Slice of Life - Nature Antics

up, down, up, down
little brown furry rodent catches my eye
little bends
nibble, nibble, nibble
repeat

pop up taller
nibble, nibble, nibble
little bends
looks like a warm up routine

gone
not for long - WOAH!
warm up routine
prep for gymnastics

belly curving over
bird feeder roof
head down
paws picking
black sunflower seeds
nibble, nibble, nibble
bushy tail balances
with a great purpose

no birds in sight

Today while cooking dinner I kept getting sidetracked by the squirrel.  I kept stopping while rinsing and trimming my green beans because the actions of our squirrel were fascinating.  I use the word our squirrel carefully, we don't own this squirrel but I think it's visited before because I've witnessed similar antics.  I'm wondering though if it's the same squirrel each time or a different one.  I was too far away to notice coloring and markings but I've decided today noticing actions is pretty interesting.

Thank you to the Two Writing Teachers group for hosting our writing community and you can enjoy other slices from today by stopping by the link provided.

Slice of Life - Vanilla Bean

long, skinny, and curvy
rich brown in color
moist
soaked or swam too long
rumpled - puckered= wrinkled
slit and scraped the inside
itsy-bitsy - pinhead size dots
rich brown in color
vanilla bean
key ingredient
light vanilla bean ice cream
homemade

Tonight I thought I would stop and notice the actual small bowl of light vanilla bean ice cream and the crushed up thin mint Girl Scout cookies we added.  Unfortunately, the bowl didn't last long enough to stop and notice it.  If you have stopped by before on my blog, you might be aware I like ice  cream so while this base was a new recipe the cookie addition is not.  Then I realized what really intrigued me about my day was using a real vanilla bean.  What an interesting form for the traditional vanilla liquid I often use.  It's interesting how I thought I had one plan for writing today and something else completely different made it into my notebook.

Thank you to the Two Writing Teachers group for hosting our writing community and you can enjoy other slices from today by stopping by the link provided.

Slice of Life - Orchids

pop of color
subtle creams and yellows
wonderful white
burst of pinks and purples
petal variations
varying sizes and shapes
variety of hues

This is the last weekend for the orchids to be on display at our local Franklin Park Conservatory.  I wanted to make sure I saw them this year and needed something to pick me up while gray skies loomed overhead.  I enjoyed lingering and noticing these beautiful plants today.  I've never tried to grow orchids and realized I didn't know very much about them until I started reading three display panels.  So, today in my notebook I not only gathered my noticing notes but collected some nonfiction information.  Maybe one day these two snippets of tidbits will merge together in another piece.

structure
   petaloid sepals - green leafy petal like at the flower base
   true petals - three

growth
    monoodial - tip of main stem
    sympodial - horizontal stem - like grass or iris

where
   cold mountain tops - terrestrial - grow in soil
   tropical rainforest - ephiphytic - grow in tree canopy
 
   lithophytic - attach to rocks

Thank you to the Two Writing Teachers group for hosting our writing community and you can enjoy other slices from today by stopping by the link provided.

Slice of Life - Snow!

bright white everywhere
flakes with substance
fluffy ground cover
brings depth to branches
freshness in the air
ripples mimic a sandy beach
sparkles glisten - guiding the day

I like stopping and noticing during my day and I've begun pondering what I might write as I notice.  I've decided to focus on the noticing and maybe try to keep the emotion out of my pieces right now.  This is proving to be a bit challenging because I really just wanted to write, FINALLY, snow that covered the branches and turned my world into a miniature snow globe!  Maybe I can use these tidbits I gather as I slice during my poetry writing unit that is coming up in my classroom.  This morning is probably only the third snowfall worth talking about in Ohio because the snowflakes were finally big enough to change the scenery around here.  It wasn't the amount of snow, we all went to school but it was enough to make my soul settle.  

Thank you to the Two Writing Teachers group for hosting our writing community and you can enjoy other slices from today by stopping by the link provided.

Slice of Life - Goose Skates

honk, honk, honk

the alarm goes off

there's a flurry of 

black, brown, and white ahead

the alarm speeds up

honk honk - honk honk - honk honk

short burst of flaps

smooth slippery slide

sounds like ice skates 

on very thin thin ice

The dogs and I were headed back home and as we got to the pond a pair of Canadian Geese let us know they didn't want us to come any closer.  I had seen the thin coating of ice on top of the pond and wondered on our first pass what would happen if a duck or goose wanted to land on it.  I wasn't sure if it was really covered in ice because it looked so thin.  I still can't believe I got to listen and notice what does happen if a goose tries to land on a super thin layer of ice.  In writing tonight, I realize my sense of hearing played as an important roll in this slice as my sense of sight did.

Thank you to the Two Writing Teachers group for hosting our writing community and you can enjoy other slices from today by stopping by the link provided.

Slice of Life - African Violets

strong stems
reaching for the sun
sturdy rich green leaves
remind me of velour fabric
purple blossoms with an iridescent sheen
four, five, or six rounded petals make a blossom
a small burst of yellow pops from the center
houseplant success
my grandma would be proud, she loved African Violets

These are actually notes I took while stopping to notice the blooming African Violet as I was watering my plants tonight.  I thought about turning them into a complete sentence but didn't like how wordy that seemed.  It's not meant to be a poem or list, today.  It's a collection of words describing what I thought when I stopped and noticed.  Tonight there was another layer to my writing - I wanted to know more about the blossom and did some research.  I discovered the parts of the blossom are; petals, filament, anther, style, and stigma.  I made notes off to the side in my notebook.  Feeling like a writer on day 2.

Thank you to the Two Writing Teachers group for hosting our writing community 
and you can enjoy other slicers from today by stopping by the link provided.

Slice of Life - Sunrise

Sunrise begins the day

as a rich deep orange creeps out 

the horizon line gets defined

pushing the night sky away

orange subtly lightens

as purple to pink creep in

shades lighten

as crisp clear blue appears

bringing hope for a sunshine day

These are actually notes I took while stopping to notice the sunrise.  I thought about turning them into complete sentences but didn't like how wordy that seemed.  It's not meant to be a poem or a list, today.  It's a collection of words describing what I thought when I stopped and noticed.  A slice in time and a slice in words.

                     Thank you to the Two Writing Teachers group for hosting thinking of a writing challenge and fostering our writing community.