feeling grateful
for a wonderful surprise
from two of my friends
who gave me their set of original golden books
something i have always wanted
since i was a young child.
they knew i would treasure them.
—
“life is always bringing unexpected gifts.”
-mary sarton
apparently i have a bit of a reputation for opening my gifts early.
how bad is it when my sister thinks
i may get overexcited
and try to intercept a delivery at the post office?
i’m not worried, she’ll never know…
p.s. if she happens to be reading this,
i’d just like to say for the record
that it was already a little bit open when i found it.
what a lovely afternoon spent
with a family whose three daughters
each of us have taught and loved in our turn over the years
as they gave thanks to all of their teachers
by cooking and serving us an amazing brunch
at a beautiful table
complete with many homemade delights
main courses, sweets, desserts, coffee, and fruit prosecos
dad and daughters prepare our meal
while mom finalizes the drinks and details in the dining room
—
such an amazing and generous gesture
as their last daughter leaves the familiar comfort
of our elementary school
and moves on to her next chapter
in the middle school division
along with her lovely family
who we will miss
and who have taught their daughters
the wisdom of gratitude and kindness.
—
“what wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?”
-jean-jacques rousseau
New Year, New You!
Everyone starts fresh in 2018 with all late fees waived.
POOF!
—
what a generous surprise gift from our library!
another reason why our community loves and supports them.
—
“amnesty is as good for those who give it as for those who receive it.
it has the admirable quality of bestowing mercy on both sides. “
-victor hugo
one of my favorite teacher gifts.
ever.
for some reason
in anticipation of the upcoming solar eclipse
i decided that it would be a great time
to make 120 ‘solar eclipse’ cookies.
the plan was to give them to 3 different groups of people
who i would see this weekend
the recipe looked quite easy
and fitting in with the spirit of the big day
the idea was to add the sun yellow and moon chocolate icings
to the perfect moon shapes
increasing the dark moon coverage on each one
showing all of the phases of the eclipse
during the process
smoke and grease and sugar and cocoa and lemon
filled the kitchen
it took hours
the outcome was not quite as i expected
i’m not sure what exactly went wrong
but i am sure there were lots of things that did
the end result was best described by
steve carell while in character on ‘the office’ –
“it looks like it was put together by baby monkeys living on a farm.”
i’m going to embrace that and take it as a compliment
i know that the eclipse makes lots of things go a bit off kilter
and i can’t wait to see how excited everyone is
to receive this very special gift from me.
—
“there’s a victory in letting go of your expectations.”
-mike white
found this sweet surprise
waiting for me in my mailbox
a very old tiny sleigh with a handwritten letter
from a neighbor i’ve never met
who’s lived nearby for over 50 years
she left it for me to add to my fairy garden
when the season is right
she took the trouble to repaint the sleigh
and write me this lovely note
wanting to visit the garden
but too shy to stop by to see it up close
it was such a kind and thoughtful gesture
i wanted to thank her and figured out where she lived
then wrote her a long letter back
to let her know
how much i enjoyed her special gift
and what it meant to me
i really hope that we meet in person in my garden one day.
—
“give what you have. to someone, it may be better than you dare to think.”
― henry wadsworth longfellow
“i’m going to give this to my mom, it will make her so happy!”
—
“love is the flower you’ve got to let grow.”
-john lennon
“books give a soul to the universe, wings to the mind,
flight to the imagination, and life to everything.”
-plato
—
i stopped over to surprise
little grandie b
on her birthday
brought my gift
gave her a flower
shared a hug
then
she asked
if she could read to me
i had ‘read’ with her
just months before
when she pretended to read
a chapter book
imitating readers
she had seen and heard
excited to be like one of them
but today
she opened a book
read me every word
her little brother
said
“i don’t know how it happened.
but she can just read now.”
i told him
” it is magic.”
i was in awe of her
and
this surprise gift of magic
that she gave to me on her sixth birthday.
—
“once you learn to read, you will be forever free.”
– frederick douglass
nothing i love better
than to see
children, adults, pets, families
in
wagons
strollers
on foot
on bicycles
walking
running
skipping
being carried.
stopping by
to pay a visit
to the fairy garden
in all four seasons.
chatting
playing
smiling
bringing gifts
acting out stories
taking tokens
noting changes
moving things
telling secrets
making memories
leaving special things behind.
spending a little quiet time
with the fairies
before they head
back into life
in a
busy grown-up world.
—
child of the pure, unclouded brow
and dreaming eyes of wonder!
though time be fleet and I and thou
are half a life asunder,
thy loving smile will surely hail
the love-gift of a fairy tale.
– lewis carroll
I didn't have my glasses on.... 