A Reaction

Heidi got just what she wanted when she posted those pictures of the dogs with a big pink floral costume around their necks. It was only seconds before her text tone sounded:

Treat: oh my god you dressed the dogs as flowers

Heidi: Yes I did– thanks for the immediate feedback. Also, I'd like to point out that Sonic seems way happier about it than Isabel.

Treat: Haha yeah he looks thrilled

Truth be told? Sonic did look pretty pleased about the whole thing.

Excused Absence

It wasn't hard at all to drag my butt out of bed at 5:30 this morning and into school for one last day this week, especially after a work day Monday and a little two-day vacay midweek.

"Where were you?" was definitely the question of the day, as student after student inquired about my unusual absence. I was pleased that the follow-up was usually, "Did you read my poem?!!" That's a lot of ownership for a four-day-old writing challenge.

"I was in Philadelphia," I answered, "and, yes, I did read your poem! It was awesome!"

And when a few asked why I had traveled to Philly, I told them. "I went to hear an author read his writing."

They totally got it; it was like I took a field trip, or something, and I didn't feel bad at all about missing a couple days of school.

Run and Eat

It's always nice to to be home again, but we didn"t leave the City of Brotherly Love empty-handed. No indeed. We rolled south this afternoon with a pound of coffee from Elixr, half a dozen Federal Donuts, a vegan pizza, and two cheese steaks from Geno's, all packed to travel. 

Just tryin to make the most of a quick trip!

Like-minded

On our trip up to Philly today we spent some time listening to Invisibilia, a new NPR series on psychology and quirky brain science. Each show has a theme and one of those we heard today was on categories and why they are so crucial to helping us know and understand the world. One of the segments featured a native of India who, after thirty years in the U.S. longed to retire to His native land, but logistically found such a move impossible, so he founded a retirement community in Florida that targets other Indian ex-pats by recreating India. Everyone they interviewed loved the place, and they all spoke of how good it felt to be in place where they fully fit in, especially as they grew older. Sort of like an Exotic Marigold Hotel in reverse, I guess.

Once we made it to town, our first stop was a place Heidi's been anxious to try since we heard of it back in the fall. Blackbird Pizzeria is an all-vegan establishment, but their pizza is pretty good. With the exception of the fake cheese, it's actually awesome-- the crust is light and crispy outside with a few blisters from the oven and nice and chewy inside. The sauce is delicious and the toppings were, too. I had a kale salad with croutons, grape tomatoes, olives, and roasted mushrooms that was also yummy. The place is in an old building in a funky, upcoming neighborhood, and the smell of the blazing oven perfumes the air. 80s music played as we ate, and I looked across the table at one happy Heidi. "This place is awesome!" she confirmed between bites. "Let's move here!"

"Maybe you could just start a retirement community for vegans who grew up in the 80s," I suggested.

Hello Haiku

We started our annual poetry segment of the 100 Day Writing Challenge today, and as always, I have been totally charmed by my students' writing. So far it's just been haiku, but there is something very fresh and honest in so many of these simple little poems that I am exceedingly optimistic about the rest of the month.

Let me give you a couple examples:


The wind blows all day
The clouds are so dark and gray
and then comes the rain.
                          ~Ryan

Today is awesome,
tomorrow may be better,
yesterday is gone.
                          ~Talha

I wake up sleepy
Too cold to get out of bed
But I have to pee.
                          ~Mina

Early Spring Evening

73 degrees and the screen door is wide open this evening. The warm breeze and gentle twilight is harshly punctuated by the insistent squawking of a squirrel in the crabapple tree just outside. She has our attention, the dog, the cat, and I, so much so that we go out on the tiny deck for a better understanding of her distress. There below? A stripe-ed beauty of a tabby cat, sleek and brown and gray; patiently waiting at the foot of the tree, she looks up at we three with eyes as green as the new grass growing just off to her left. Neither shrieking squirrel nor silent cat seem inclined to end their stand-off, and after a moment, we grow bored of it and drift back inside.

To-ma-ta-da!

In addition to relaxing this spring break week, we also accomplished quite a bit: phone calls, car repairs, paperwork, and so forth, were all check-check-checked off the list, but to me the most exciting chore was potting my little pepper plants and starting the tomatoes. Forty-nine cells with eight varieties are all hopefully germinating as I type, so that in 90 days or so, July 4 or perhaps a little later, the harvest will begin and it will be BLTs all around!

Here's what I planted:

Rutgers
Abraham Lincoln
Cherokee Purple
German Johnson
Box Car Willie
Red Rose
Purple Bumblebee
Bull's Heart

It's hard to say if I picked them for their names or for their descriptions, which were equally appealing, but I'll post an update this summer.