Author Archives: beth

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About beth

Ann Arbor-ite writes about enjoying life with all of its ironies and surprises.

the math of trees.

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when looking at the trees on the kinder playground

it’s easy to see how tall the little people are 

the green does not dare begin until it is

above and safely out of the reach of their tiny hands

even if they are standing on tippy toes

 pulling, climbing, bending, picking, snapping

the trees do the math and live to tell the tale.

“trees and plants always look like the people they live with, somehow.”

-zora neale hurston

invisible to the eye.

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he was a ‘well-seasoned’ magic man

who came in

to entertain the youngest children

 while he wasn’t smooth

 his jokes and tricks and props and velvet

had been around a long time

the children loved every trick

opened their eyes wide with wonder

as doves and bunnies and coins and cards and wands and scarves

appeared and disappeared

in all kinds of unexpected places

 they eagerly

 volunteered to help him

 squealed and giggled and clapped with pure delight

until they lost their breath with laughter

he was a showstopper of the highest order

who had found the perfect audience.


“it is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye. “

-antoine de saint-exupery

one day, one mother, three daughters, three happenings.

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had tea and morning meditation with one

surprised and had coffee with another

shared a friendly birthday dinner with yet another, at her in-laws’.

it was a good day.


‘be happy for this moment. this moment is your life.”
-omar khayyam

image credits: google images, pinterest

dreamin’ on this sunday morning.

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listen to the aerosmith rock classic “dream on” as you’ve never heard it before

as morgan james belts it out – jazz style.

http://societyofrock.com/woman-reworks-aerosmiths-dream-on-into-a-classic-jazz-tune-and-its-guaranteed-to-give-you-chills/

 

credits: postmodern jukebox, morgan james

have a ball.

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i love her final gesture

and it made me give pause –

if i were to go today

i would leave behind the following things for others to enjoy:

$7.oo, a sock monkey, photographs, glitter, collage projects, letters and books.

i hope there is no fighting over the monkey.


“laughter is not at all a bad beginning for a friendship, and it is far the best ending for one.”

-oscar wilde

credits: getty images, mental floss

power.

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one of my kinders

made me this bracelet

and said it would

 give me power.

 it worked.

“the power of imagination makes us infinite.”

-john muir

alive.

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author unknown

always welcome.

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the ponies and friends all came out for the dance party

this time is was a love fest and tea

everyone was welcome

all colors, sizes, shapes and species 

they were in their finest fancy fashions

and ready to have fun.

one pony told them she didn’t want to come

because it looked like a boring party

they were kind of sad but then they thought

maybe some other ponies had been mean to her once

and she was just acting that way

because she didn’t want to get her feelings hurt again

so they invited her back and showed her how to be nice.

“kindness is always fashionable, and always welcome.”

-amelia barr

brighter.

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no students today

teachers get together to talk and play

and

to see how it feels for our kids

as we encourage them to experiment

to play with the process

rather than make a project

 for the pure joy of creation

we try out materials

with no expected outcome

just for the chance to see what will happen

when we are finished

we share what we’ve made with each other

and as it happens

each one is a beauty in its own way.

“colours are brighter when the mind is open.”

-adriana alarcon

dequindre cut.

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working together on a community cleanup project at *the dequindre cut in detroit

on a day filled with helping hands

larger than life art

walkers, runners, bikers, dogs and blue skies.


*the dequindre cut greenway is an urban recreational path in downtown detroit that opened to the public in May of 2009. … formerly a grand trunk railroad line, the dequindre cut is a predominately below-street level 2 mile long greenway with separate lanes for cyclists and pedestrians. 

“if your support the community, they will support you.”

-jerry greenfield

dequindre-cut, detroit riverfront conservancy