NaBloPoMo Glorious Madness: Christmas Goodie Feast

 

The prompt today: "If you knew that whatever you ate next would be your last meal, what would you want it to be?" 

This is difficult. I am a fanatic foodie. I love the sight,smell, texture,and taste of many foods. I love comfort food, Mom's homemade food, restaurant food, hot lunch on occasion, my own food, and farm fresh food.

My last meal? Knowing myself and how I can't resist all the Christmas goodies when I go home for Christmas, I think my last meal would be all my favorite traditional Christmas goodies baked by my mom. I would have them all arranged beautifully on a lovely platter. The splurge would begin with buttery Spritz, rich and gooey Seven Layer Cookies, a bowl of savory, salty Nuts and Bolts, a yummy caramel popcorn ball. Then with coffee I would enjoy a slice of pumpkin bread and Sesame Seed cookies. I would save the best for last....a hunk of my favorite fruitcake with the aroma of brandy, fruits, and nuts all combined to make a delicious, moist bread. Such a Goodie Feast! Such Glorious Madness.

photo above of my mom's kitchen in my childhood home

NaBloPoMo Glorious Madness: First Draft Dumping

The prompt for today on NaBloPoMo is: What is your favorite part about writing?

My favorite part of writing is first draft dumping.  I dump eveything from my head on paper or the screen. I don't judge, value, evaluate, second guess, rethink, revise, edit, or give up. I just keep the flow going until the dumping of the topic is complete. Somtimes the draft is in sentences, other times it is phrases. Lists or sketches work also. Once all dumping is down I stop and review, reread, and then begin my real first draft. This strategy works well with my student writers also. Sometimes we set the timer so we are forced to keep dumping without stopping, judging, reviewing, or revising. I save  the draft dumps and these collections of words often become a polished piece later. The key is taking time  to draft dump often.  That is part of the Glorious Madness. That and capturing photo images for inspiration like these.

She Who Loves a Garden

One of my favorite blogs is Shutter Sisters.  The other day the post's theme was Words. We were asked to share our favorite words. As the hard frost hit and I scraped ice on my windows, I knew summer was over. I also knew it was time to say good-bye to gardening. I took this flag down for another season. The words remain with me.

Ripeness and Color

 Autumn is the eternal corrective. It is ripeness and color and a time of maturity; but it is also breadth, and depth, and distance. What man can stand with autumn on a hilltop and fail to see the span of his world and the meaning of the rolling hills that reach to the far horizon? Hal Borland

This is a series of photo images from my morning walk today in the gardens.

Why I Write: To Organize Myself

The last week has been hectic. It was busy at school, busy at home, and busy over the week-end. When I get overwhelmed with what to do next, I write. I organize my thoughts. I also take time to breathe in the beauty of my surroundings.

Why I Write: To Learn

When was the last time you learned something new? How did you remember it? Did you write it down? I am a teacher and I learn new things every day. Oftentimes I learn those things from my students. I have to write things down to keep them in my brain. I tell students the importance of taking notes and commenting on text is to learn. Not only to learn, but to keep it in the brain.

I went to a dynamic workshop last Thursday/Friday. He shared information about brain research and said we might remember 40% of what we learned when we walked out the door... unless we wrote it down. Then it would stick with us longer.  I took good notes, then tonight I retaught all that I learned to another person. The notes were the learning. Yes...I remembered most of it. Yes... I wrote and also learned. Above is the hallway leading to my classroom where we write to learn every day.