Winter Tour: Fortunately, Unfortunately

I love the picture book Fortunately by Remy Charlip. This week-end I was finally home when it was light outside so I could tour the property and survey the effects of winter. This book kept coming to mind.
Fortunately the snow is still piled high enough that Shelby can still play Rin Tin Tin and watch over the neighborhood.
Unfortunately it is still almost impossible to get the car in the garage.Fortunately the ivy under the eaves has survived the winter.
Unfortunately some climbing roses got hit with the snowplow and we don't know the damage.
Fortunately the trellis is still standing after it was covered with snow for weeks.
Unfortunately one lawn decoration didn't get put away and it is buried in this frozen snow bank. I spotted the pretty copper color glinting in the sun. Fortunately there are actually buds coming out on the lilacs, forsythia, and serviceberries in the yard.
Unfortunately they may be buried in snow again in a week. Fortunately this crabapple tree has food for the birds.
Unfortunately the feeders are impossible to fill right now because of the snow. Fortunately we had snow shovels when they were a scarce item a few weeks ago.
Unfortunately that meant JEJ had to use them! Fortunately the sun came out and the sky was blue so we could get some Vitamin D.
Unfortunately I was sequestered in the study grading tests and scoring writing to be ready for the semester end this week.

4X4 Photo Meme: Bucket of Fire

I saw this meme in many variations as I visited blogs this week-end. My sister Silver Valley Girl sent it this way so I'll try it. The only difference with the others were the number of the folder and picture.

So here are the rules:

1. Go to the fourth folder where you keep your photos.

2. Post the fourth picture in that folder.

3. Explain the picture.

4. Tag four fellow bloggers to join in the fun.

All fellow bloggers.... join in and let me know so I can come peek!Here is my fourth picture in my fourth folder. This is not a new fireplace for our gazebo. When the weather was so cold the smoke stopped going out the top of the chimney. I thought I was doing something wrong in building up the fire when JEJ was gone. The whole sunroom filled up with an awful smoke. The same thing happened to JEJ. He took the burning firewood out of the stove, put it in a coal bucket and placed it in the snow. I had to take a picture of it because it did look like a bucket to warm up while shoveling or building a snowman. This cute fire burned a long time. The problem? When the weather was so cold the moisture on the mesh around the top of the chimney combined with soot froze and the smoke couldn't get out. JEJ hit it with a snow shovel while removing snow on the roof and once again the sunroom wood stove worked beautifully.

Sibling Assignment #88: Fog

Raymond Pert gave the sibling assignment this week. It was one word: Fog. You will soon find his here and Silver Valley Girl's here.
A found poem is created by taking lines, phrases, and passages from other sources and reframing them as a poem. This poem was created by pulling lines from a variety of poems on the theme of fog.

Found in the Fog

The fog comes
on little cat feet.

Open the door now.
Go roll up the collar of your coat
To walk in the changing scarf of mist.

Light refracting and pulsing
new frost clinging
shrub and nettle,
goldenrod and milkweed
blanketed, crystallized
ablaze
in frozen fog.

A heavy fog clings like cobwebs to the naked limbs of winter’s trees.

It cushions away the sounds of life;

All morning bathed in a dovelike brooding.

Living without faith is like driving in a fog.

The Sun took down his Yellow Whip
And drove the Fog away.

Like a deep rich fog
so is the grace of God
ever present in our lives.

It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.

a found poem created by InlandEmpireGirl

photos taken at home and around Lake Roosevelt

Stay Gold

One of my classes is reading The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. When students have time to read in class you can hear a pin drop. Students really relate to Ponyboy, Johnny, Cherry, the Greasers and the Socs. To help them understand the period and location of setting of the book I introduce the unit with the first part of the movie. The Outsiders opens with Stevie Wonder singing "Stay Gold." Students are used to seeing a theme throughout a movie or at the end. This surprises them. Some aren't familiar with Stevie Wonder and the song seems a bit "cheesy" as some remarked. After immersing ourselves in the book then watching the whole movie the song makes sense. Of course, it ties in nicely with "Nothing Gold Can Stay" by Robert Frost, which Ponyboy recites after he runs away. Today the song took on a whole new meaning. One of the contestants trying out on " American Idol" sang it last night. I don't watch the show, but there were certainly enough of my students that heard it last night. I was surprised they remembered the song! I found a live performance by Stevie Wonder that reminded me how important this song is to the theme of the book.

"Stay Gold"

Seize upon that moment long ago
One breath away and there you will be
So young and carefree
Again you will see
That place in time...so gold

Steal away into that way back when
You thought that all would last forever
But like the weather
Nothing can ever...and be in time
Stay gold

But can it be
When we can see
So vividly
A memory
And yes you say
So must the day
Too, fade away
And leave a ray of sun
So gold

Life is but a twinkling of an eye
Yet filled with sorrow and compassion
though not imagined
All things that happen
Will age too old
Though gold

If you haven't heard him perform this song for awhile... enjoy!

Surrounded by Angels

"The magnitude of life is overwhelming. Angels are here to help us take it peace by peace. " ~Levende WatersMy mom has an incredible collection of angels. Some of the angels sit above the living room windows on shelves and look down on all of us lovingly all year. Other angels appear during the holiday season to surround the nativity, gather as a choir, or hang from trees. It was fun to catch a variety of photos from the beautiful angels.

Wild Thing

Last week I turned fifty-four years old. I don't mind sharing my age. Actually, I am proud of reaching my fifties and thankful for what has come with being this age. As I have grown older I have developed little idiosyncrasies. One example is researching and researching before any product can be purchased. I would be horrified if I purchased the wrong brand or paid too much when one was marked twenty dollars less! I also have a habit of taking every map, travel book, and other bits of interest when we go camping ten miles away. I want the security of knowing where I am going. Sometimes I don't have enough gas to get to town, but the car has aspirin, wipes for the glasses, mints, chap stick, toothpicks, hand warmers, ice cleats, and extra Kleenex. I love to be prepared.

I have shared other poems by Judith Viorst from her collection Forever Fifty and other negotiations. Here is another favorite that was a gentle reminder this week:

Wild Thing
I went for a walk in the sun without wearing my sunscreen,
I went out of town without making a reservation.
I placed my mouth directly upon a public drinking fountain, and took a sip.
I didn't bother flossing my teeth before bedtime.
I pumped my own gasoline at a self-service station.
I ate a deviled egg instead of the cauliflower with low-fat yogurt dip.
I bought, without reading Consumer Report, a new dryer.
I left my checking account unreconciled
I know that the consequences could be dire,
But sometimes a woman simply has to run wild.

Judith Viorst