(Day 8 of the March challenge)

“Mmmmm!  It smells so good!”  we said simultaneously as we entered.  We breathed deeply, inhaling the rich earthy smell of mulch and the heady aroma of the blossoming plants that surrounded us.

“I’m so glad we came!” I said. 

“Oh, this is cool.” said L, and A nodded in agreement. 

We ambled through the show enjoying the colors, smells and creative landscaping. “Oh, look at that!”  “That’s so cute!”  “Maybe we could build a brick patio like that.”  “Don’t you wish we had a hot tub?”  “What’s that plant?”  “Oh, this one is definitely my favorite.”  “What smells so good?”

It was a lovely respite during a harsh winter.  A taste of spring.  Just a casual meandering, enjoying the sights, the smells and being with each other.  No rush, no jostling crowds.  Simply a feast for the senses and for our winter-weary beings.  Rejuvenating. 

Outdoors, despite some blue patches of sky, the scenery was still very white and cold.  “Look at the snow on that roof,” A said.  We eyed the sheet of snow cantilevered over the edge of a nearby roof with some trepidation then stepped a bit further away, as sodden white piles below testified to an impending avalanche.  The trickle and drip of water rivuletting off other roofs filled the air.  The parking lot was rutted and muddy, filled with puddles of water—not ice.  There were, in fact, signs of spring about if you looked carefully enough. 

My daughters, almost 20 and 17, suddenly burst into motion.  They ran through the wet pocked parking lot yelling, “Shotgun!” with arms flailing and legs pumping as they vied to reach the car first and obtain the coveted front seat for the ride home.  No dignity but such vibrancy!  I smiled and crossed the lot a bit more sedately, watching them and loving every moment.  

The squirrels are acrobatting around the bird feeders.  They leap across the snow, scurry up and down the birch tree and settle down for a nice seedy snack.  There are three of them this morning and I have to smile at their antics. We’ve never had squirrels this close before, because before…we had Liesl.

Liesl, who would never allow a pernicious squirrel within the perimeter of her domain.  And if one would dare to venture close, she would chase it, her whole heart engaged in the pursuit, lungs issuing forth staccato barks.  If she was inside and happened to spy a squirrel through the window, she would tense, quiver and then begin the barking, racing from window to window.  She’d look at us, pleading to go outside and deal with the invader.

There’s no silken-eared, sweet dog to chase the squirrels anymore.               I miss her.

I miss the echo –
The clickety-click-clack
of her toenails on
the pumpkin pine boards in the hall
the occasional mad scramble
of feet on wood
when exuberance briefly embraced her,
time-traveling from earlier days.

I miss the whisper and rustle
as she circled about
preparing her bed
in soft piles of
discarded clothes
on the bedroom floor
exhaling with a soft whump
when she finally
thumped to the ground.

I miss the scritch scratch
of her jittering legs and
the faint jingle jangle of her collar
as she dream-chased creatures
through the night
quivering with excitement.

There’s silence now.

And outside
The squirrels rejoice and
scamper about
between bursts of sunflower seed gluttony.
And while I smile
at their antics
my heart aches
for my happy brown dog.

Rest in peace
sweet Liesl.

(In the interest of full disclosure and because I’m a total rule follower, I confess that I wrote much of the poetic portion of this post at an earlier date, but I reworked it and added to it after seeing the invading squirrels this morning.)

     When I was young we had an electric meter outside our home.  It was a glass dome with a visible, spinning wheel.   My siblings and I used to check it to see how quickly the wheel was spinning.  We created a sort of game by running through the house and turning on everything electrical we could find  and then checking to see how fast the wheel was spinning.  We could really get that sucker moving!  Of course we never considered that the meter was directed related to bills that would be coming to our parents, nor did we ever go back to turn off the various lights, and assorted electrically powered items.  

At 3:45 this morning I lay in bed covered with assorted comforters in my old, drafty house.  The click, click, clank of the radiator echoed in the chill of the room.  On the first night we spent in this home, almost 8 years ago, those same unfamiliar radiator noises percussed through the night, amazingly loud, startling me awake again and again.  I wondered how I’d ever be able to sleep!  Over time I grew used to the sounds and rarely noticed them.  If I did, I found them oddly comforting, like the house was breathing, settling and cozying in warmly around me.  At night the sounds lulled me to sleep.  During this winter, however,  with its relentless bitter cold, the all-too-frequent sounds of the radiator evoke instead an image of a meter whirling wildly and siphoning money from my already dwindling bank account.  Click, click, clank.  Ka-ching!   

Thinking back to our childhood “game”  now makes me practically hyperventilate!  Sorry, Dad!

The benefits of slicing are already apparent to me.  Five days in, I find myself leading a more writerly life.  I’m viewing my world in a  different way, reflecting, concentrating on small moments, wondering which ones would make a good slice.   Knowing each day that I need to post makes me more present, more observant.

I love reading others’ slices and am inspired by what they post, but even more by the very act of their posting.  I am delighted to know that there is a wider community of people who value words and language and that they are willing to make a commitment to push themselves to write and post daily.  There is vulnerability in this act and there’s a leap of faith in sharing one’s writing with a wider, unknown community.

One of my slices this week was a poem about being a motherless daughter of two daughters.  After writing and posting this poem, I shared it with my daughters and also with my sisters.  Yesterday I was driving with my 17 year old and she commented, “I’ve been thinking a lot about your poem.”  That poem and those words opened the door to a conversation about love and grief and how they can intertwine and that something that is a blessing can also resonate with a loss.  That conversation would not have happened if I hadn’t been participating in this writing adventure.  It has inspired me to take risks by sharing parts of myself that I usually keep private. 

I am thankful for the opportunity to participate, for those who moderate this challenge and for those who take the time to comment on my posts.  I’m determined to keep on posting, but even if I don’t, I’ve already gained so much from this experience.

Winter pounds can really creep up on you.  My first hint that I’m losing the battle is subtle.  I begin to avoid certain items in my wardrobe, wash my jeans less frequently and embrace leggings and skirts.  Most years things level off at a certain point and then the advent of spring motivates me to eat better, get out and start moving and those pounds recede.  It’s just a yearly cycle.  Not a big deal.

This winter, however, was different.  It could be my new-found conviction that if chocolate has peppermint in it, it doesn’t count as chocolate.  It’s really a breath-freshener or perhaps a digestive aid.  Or perhaps it was peri-menopause or just plain old piggery.  I don’t know.  I do know that I pushed past that first, well-known phase with gusto and moved into a new one.  I call it the “Sausage Stage.”  Certain clothes (Ok, most of them) began to feel like sausage casings, restraining the extra poundage or at least rearranging it. 

“Oh my God,” I told my husband, “I’m getting a muffin top!”

“What’s a muffin top?”  he asked, thoroughly puzzled.

When I explained, he asserted that I was not getting a muffin top.  (Good boy!)  Still, I knew that things were getting out of hand—mostly because I could fill my hand with the newly acquired flesh around my middle!  I began to seriously consider investing in some Spanx.

And then I realized my annual physical was fast approaching.  It was time to pay the piper.

 First I made the necessary call and postponed the physical.  After gaining this few weeks of reprieve, I pulled the dusty non-digital scale out from under a pile of damp towels and stepped on it.  That’s when I saw “The Number”.  I shook the scale a little, set it back down, played with the dial and then stepped back on.  No change.  I had not weighed this much since I was pregnant or postpartum and “The Number” was now emblazoned in my brain.  In neon orange.  Flashing sparkling neon orange.   Drastic changes were in order.

I immediately began considering my food intake and made a huge effort to incorporate more greens, cut out cheese, and limit fat-laden calories.  Blah, blah, blah.  At one particularly low point,  I had a dreadful epiphany when I realized that venti Starbucks lattes, even made with non-fat milk, are not water and hence have calories.  Wine apparently does too.  Sigh. 

Four weeks later, I’d seen some good progress as the scale slowly crept downward and my wardrobe expanded.  And today the day arrived…my physical was this afternoon.  The nurse greeted me and walked me down the hallway and into a small room.  “Time to get weighed,” she said.  I took off every expendable item of clothing I wore.  Then, s-l-o-w-l-y I stepped toward the scale.  I paused, took a deep breath,  exhaled all the air in my lungs, and stepped on.   And…I was one pound less than last year!    I had vanquished “The Number!”

Tonight I think I’ll celebrate with a glass of wine and maybe one of those chocolate peppermint digestive aids.  And I will reset my dusty, non-digital scale as it turns out it was off by about 7 pounds– too heavy.  Cheers!

I am a motherless daughter,

blessed with daughters,

two.

I navigated their early years

with a time-limited blueprint

truncating abruptly

at age 14,

when my own mother died.

Suddenly.

Unexpectedly.

Now with my two daughters

I am chartless,

No guide or mentor,

and yet rewarded

by the journey

by the joy

in small shared moments

and unexpected way-stations.

Bittersweet.

For in the growing bonds

we share

I feel at times

the phantom pain

of what I have never known.

And now I wonder

what blueprint are we crafting

together

in this unchartered territory,

Mother and daughters?

I am a motherless daughter

Blessed with daughters

Two.

Monday morning is our Weekend Share greeting in first grade. Students greets their classmates and then share one thing about their weekend.  With a room full of six and seven year olds, you never know what you might hear.  Conversations in general are unpredictable and often quite entertaining, and especially when initiated by certain students. 

Last week, one of these “certain”  students, “Ben”,  decisively announced, “Good morning, everyone.  This weekend I shot a brown bear with my bb gun.” 

“You did?” I asked. (Now usually I don’t interrupt when students share, but in view of the purported unsupervised bb gun, I felt I needed to clarify a bit.)

“Yes,  my mom and dad weren’t there and I saw the bear.  He looked at me and I looked at him.  Then I shot him.”

“Wow,” I asked, “Is that story fiction or non-fiction?”

“Oh, it’s real,” he said.

“So,” I asked, “if I asked your mom about it, she’d say it was a true story?”

“Oh…..” he said, gazing upward and pausing.  “Oh, yeah, that’s right…I forgot…it was a dream.”

So, this morning as my crew arrived in the classroom, Ben, skipped up to me, beaming.  “Mrs. Hogan,” he said, “I have something really exciting to share today.”  From the bounce in his step and the grin on his face, I knew this should be quite interesting.

“What’s that?” I asked him. 

“Well,” he said, “I finally saw a real live dinosaur.”   

“You did?” 

“Yes,” he said, “My dad and I were ice fishing and my dad went to get some bait.  And then Pop!  up it came through the hole in the ice and then it went back down again.” 

A student overhearing this conversation, said, “Dinosaurs are extinct.” 

“Yeah,” said another nearby student, “They got wiped out by a meteor.” 

“No,” said Ben quite solemnly, “That meteor hit the land…but not the sea!”

A bit later this morning as I commiserated with a different student about the large scratch on his face, Ben chimed in.  “Oh, yeah,” he stated matter-of-factly, “I’ve got scratches on me all the time.  It’s from dealing with the dinosaurs, dragons and iguanas.”

I can only imagine the richness of Ben’s inner world where clearly anything is possible.  For him the delineation between fact and fiction still wavers and he delights in his creative interpretation of his experiences.  While my vision is narrowed to deadlines and due dates, meetings and appointments, housework and homework, he’s embracing his world, with elements both real and imagined.  What would my world be like if I could live as vividly as he does, limited only by my imagination, each day ablaze with wonder and possibility? 

Today I am thankful.  Late on this Sunday morning, I sit surrounded by the flotsam and jetsam of a teacher’s life with report cards fast approaching.  The kettle on the wood stove hisses and simmers emitting a gentle flow of steam.  The windows frame a frosty scene of glistening icicles and snow-laden branches.  My three-legged geriatric cat, draped on the arm of the couch, leans against my back.  Before me rest a bowl of cranberry-studded oatmeal and a steaming cup of coffee. 

My two oldest children are home from college for break and my youngest, heading to college next year, isn’t yet at work.  I listen to the murmurs and stops and starts of their conversation in the adjacent room.  The harmonies of those varied tones warm me on this bitter cold winter’s day.  I try to push aside the stress of unfinished work and relax into this one small moment, banal yet profound. 

Yesterday I heard about the 12 year old daughter of a college acquaintance who has suffered a sudden and frightening lower extremity paralysis.   While I don’t know her, tears well as I read her parent’s blog.  I learn about her calm acceptance of repeated invasive and uncomfortable testing and I imagine her parents’ fear and pride as they watch their 12-year old face adversity with grace.  I imagine them trying to navigate this turn in their lives — this terrifying intimidating medical maze and I ache for them. 

With full awareness of my good fortune, I listen again to those murmuring voices of my children.  At this one small moment all is right with my world.   I am so thankful.

February 3, 2015

I have an addiction.  It’s a relatively new development but it’s crept insidiously into my life.  The symptoms are clear and pathetically stereotypical.  I’m losing chunks of time.  My emotions veer wildly from highs to lows from one moment to the next.  I promise myself I won’t do it again, or maybe only once more, but then I yield to temptation.  I’m neglecting my work.  I find myself wondering when I can get my next fix, and sometimes even sneak one in during snack time at school.  It’s gotten out of control.

It’s not drugs or alcohol, not internet shopping or porn, nor video games.  Instead, I’ve become a winter weather coverage junky.  Every night I find myself searching through the weather channels on line, reading the local forecasts, debating the accuracy of one computer model versus another.  Has the European model really been more accurate this winter?  I surf the internet eagerly consuming a variety of forecasts—wunderground, noaa, wcsh8, Channel 13.  I linger on those that I find most promising, reading and rereading them.  “Winter Storm Warning”  “Hazardous Weather Outlook”  “Heavy snow accumulation”  I wallow in the active verbs—walloped, smacked, blasted, blindsided.   

And then, most shameful of all, in the address bar, I eagerly type in the address for Snow Day calculator.  I feel a slight rush as my computer s-l-o-w-l-y loads the page, extending the frustration but also the anticipatory thrill.  I’m jonesing for a snow day.  Finally the home page appears. 

What’s the percentage chance of a snow day the next day?  It’s like hitting the slots at a casino.  I enter the zip code first.  Ka-ching Next, the number of snow days already taken. Ka-ching Finally I choose my school’s category—-Rural Public.  I click on the tab— “Calculate” —Ka-ching and wait—breath held, envisioning those three cherries sweetly lining up —Jackpot!   99% chance of a snow day!

It doesn’t matter that I don’t even really want a snow day.   Some part of me still revels in the magic of a snow day, feels that 8 year old get-out-of-jail-free euphoria when I see those words appear—that snow day high.  It might happen!  School might be closed!  I suspect it’s the same part of me that still marvels that I can enter a convenience store and buy …all the candy I want. .. At one time.  I mean, no one will stop me.  Pretty heady stuff! 

Of course, it’s not always a 99% chance of a snow day.  Sometimes a sickening 56% appears (like for this Thursday).  I mean that’s slightly better than 50-50 but my heart sinks.  I click on refresh—maybe it was a glitch.  56% appears again.  I head back to the forecasts.  Maybe I can find something more promising out there. And seriously, I don’t even really want a snow day.  Like I said, it’s an addiction. 

“Betsy,” Mandy called, “Go ahead. I’ll catch up in a minute.”

She quickly ducked behind a tree, pulling down her shorts and underwear, squatting as she moved them out of the way. Ah, sweet release! A steady stream of liquid splattered against the leafy ground and Mandy leaned back against the tree, feeling it’s rough bark pressing into her spine. Finally comfortable, she sighed and relaxed.

Betsy’s head popped around the tree, “I see you!” she crowed.

Mandy, startled, jerked, and felt the warm stream of urine run down her leg and soak into her white sock.

“You peed on yourself!” Betsy laughed. Her face glowed with malicious delight.

“No, I didn’t!” Mandy cried.

Betsy turned away. “Yes, you did,” she said smugly. “And, I’m going to tell everyone you peed in the woods and you peed on yourself.”

Mandy’s face flooded with shame. She pulled up her shorts and underwear quickly, yanking as the cotton twisted and dragged on her damp thighs. Panicked, she rushed after Betsy. “Betsy, wait, don’t tell!” she cried desperately. She knew the others would tease her mercilessly if they found out.

Betsy skipped ahead, ignoring her pleas, her blond head shimmering through the veil of tears in Mandy’s eyes.