Imagine the Possibilities

Last night I went through the usual tasks to get dinner ready. I gathered the ingredients I would need to assemble the meatloaf, then went to the garden for the last few tomatoes and a sprig of fresh basil. Back in the kitchen I mixed the meatloaf and set it on the counter while the oven finished warming. Then I prepared the fresh tomato and onion salad, set the table and the timer, and busied myself with other things. After about a half hour or so (yes, it took that long!), I started to wonder why delicious smells weren’t tantalizing my taste buds. I soon discovered that…I forgot to put the meat in the oven!

Why Dinner Will Be Late

I remembered to…

chop the vegetables,

mince the garlic,

heat the olive oil.

I remembered to…

mix in the bread crumbs,

separate the egg white,

add a touch of Dijon.

I remembered to…

gather the tomatoes,

break off the basil,

blend the oil and vinegar.

Why weren’t delicious smells…

tantalizing my taste buds,

waking my salivary glands,

building my anticipation?

I forgot to…

put the meat in the oven!!!

Honey…

open the wine,

grab some appetizers,

dinner will be late tonight!

Last week I was sitting in the waiting area at my hair salon with a young girl and her mother. The girl had a book with her and I was straining to see the title. Before I could invade their space completely, a conversation started.

Me:                  Sorry, but I’m interested in knowing what you are reading.

Girl:                 Walk Two Moons.

Me:                  Oh, Sharon Creech! I love her work.

Mother:           I’m reading it, too, so we can discuss it before she goes back to school.

What are you reading?

Me:                  Maxi’s Secrets by Lynn Plourde.

I could tell by their expressions that they were surprised I was reading a middle grade novel when I probably didn’t have to unless I was a teacher or the mother of a middle grader (that was a long time ago!). But the truth is, that while I do read lots of middle grade and YA titles to review, I really enjoy them! There is so much good writing going on in books for kids and tweens and teens that I don’t want to miss any of it. You can see that by the picture of my TBR pile.

I actually just finished Barbara O’Connor’s Wish (wonderful characters and a great mentor text for craft) and last night I sunk my teeth into Maybe a Fox by Kathi Appelt and Alison McGhee. During the summer I got to know Charlie from Kate Messner’s The Seventh Wish and Kate DiCamillo’s Raymie Nightingale (sigh!) among others – characters that will stay with me for some time.

A few years ago I wrote about the variety in how I read, switching off between print and electronic and audio. Thinking about what I read is just as varied. I read fiction and nonfiction picture books, middle grade novels, YA, realistic adult novels (sweeping family sagas always pull me in), some adult nonfiction, mysteries, fantasy, professional books… I guess it’s safe to say that I love books!

What are you reading?

Yesterday I walked into the PA Writing and Literature Project office and was greeted by three dinosaurs – three overhead projectors waiting to be picked up for recycling. And then I remembered…

Before there were smart boards and document imagers, there were overhead projectors and blackboards with white and yellow chalk.

Before there were online videos, there were filmstrips that melted when they got too close to the bulb and 35mm movies and videotapes.

Before there were emails and text messages, there were handwritten notes and phone calls from landlines.

Before there were CDs and music streaming, there turntables for 45s and vinyl albums and 8-tracks and cassette tapes.

Before the internet, there were phonebooks and encyclopedia sets and folded maps and catalogs.

The way we teach, the way we give and get information, the way we live is constantly changing, and hopefully we are better for it.

The beginning of the school year has a certain feel linked to many memories – new shoes that still feel a little stiff, carefully chosen lunch bags (Hello Kitty for her, plain brown for him, Vera for me), and anxious anticipation. I’ve been through dozens of first weeks of school as a child, a teacher, and a mother. Invariably there were sleepless nights leading up to those beginnings filled with concerns and questions.

Yesterday was the first day back for the teachers in the school district where I spent my last years of teaching, and I found my thoughts wandering to them all day. What were they doing? Hearing about? How were the classroom setups going? Did the books they ordered arrive in time?

It is no wonder that I’ve had trouble sleeping the past few nights. The rhythms of the school year are a part of me. They are in my bones. They influence my actions just as predictably as the rhythms of nature signal to birds and butterflies that it’s time to start their migration, and magically transform the coats of snowshoe hares from chocolate brown to wintry white.

Always a teacher. It’s in my bones.

I know some of you have been back to school for weeks, but I wish everyone a year filled with success and wondrous experiences.

A few years ago Allan and I took a midwinter vacation to the southwest. We wanted mainly to see the red rock area of Sedona, but I also wanted to visit Sante Fe and the Georgia O’Keefe Museum. Since there would be some driving involved, a friend suggested listening to some audio books to pass the time. In particular she recommended the Navajo mysteries by Tony Hillerman that take place in the area we would be visiting. While these stories wouldn’t have been my first choice, it was wonderful to hear the descriptions from the text and look out the window to see nearly the same thing. It was a little like living in a picture book. The characters I met in those books helped me to more deeply understand life in that area.

Something similar happened while I was visiting Kill Devil Hills, NC this past spring. I started reading The Wright Brothers by David McCullough, and immediately I felt an appreciation of that place where so much happened years before and where I now stood.

Last week while visiting Chautauqua Lake in New York, my friend suggested I read Clear Skies, Blue Water, written by her friend and fellow resident, Beth Peyton. This memoir is a celebration of the power of place and community to heal and restore. I’m glad I started the book while I was there and able to see first-hand the lake she loves and read about the people who touched her life in such a special way. It helped me feel so much more as I read.

Sometimes we are drawn to read about places we are preparing to visit, or have visited. But the experience of reading about a place while you are there, perhaps for the first time, is powerful for me. While well shaped characters and an interesting plot are important to any story, an author’s ability to develop that sense of place is equally essential. I think this is something to keep in mind as we work with our young writers.