A Purple Day

I bought some new acrylic paint when I was at Walmart.  It's sparkly but the sparkles don't show up in the photo.

Guess Who's Journaling, Again!

Okay, I know there's not an awful lot on this spread but it was my first time journaling in a month and a half.  It felt good to get started again!

Sun and Fog and a Little Bit of Sky

I went into the copy room this morning and saw this sight.  So, I ran back to my classroom, grabbed my camera, and went outside to stand in front of the copy room window and take this picture.

To see more skies from around the world, visit SkyWatch Friday.

Indian Summer Flowers

We had to go down to Gorham today and stopped at my mother-in-law's house.  The temperature was in the high 60s and the sun was shining and the dying flowers were just so gorgeous.

Not sure what this is but I love the color.

The delicate colors in this hydrangea are soft and beautiful.

A Beautiful Morning

This is the tree right outside my kitchen window.  It makes the whole house golden.

This is taken from the back porch in my pajamas looking east..  It was 25 degrees.

I love the orange bokeh and the flare.

Here We Go!

Woke up to this!

Nude in the Sunlight

A couple years ago I had my poetry-writing students make altered books.  They painted and collaged and added a poem to each page.  I did it with them and this is one of the pages I did.

Nude in the Sunlight

We escaped

from our work

and slipped away

to these woods

to make love

in the sunshine

then he asked

if he could paint

me sitting

in the glow,

as natural

as the air

swirling around

the leaves

and my breasts.

I pulled my shirt

up to cover

part of me

because no man

should ever know

all of a woman,

but let him

love me again

with his paintbrush.

What does he see

as he sketches?

Does he notice my arms

thick from doing

my mistress’s laundry?

Does he see my hair

loosened like the grasses

fluttering freely

but still anchored?

He captures the coins

of light on my skin

but he can’t draw

my soul

hidden in my sturdy

body.

He thinks he’s painting

me

but each stroke

lights the fire

of naked

independence

that I’m smiling about.

Soon I’ll head back

to the steamy washtub

taking the energy

of the afternoon

with me.

Kylie and the Slide

Kylie is staying with us this weekend at camp.  Today we walked to the playground and Kylie was so happy.

Here she is getting ready to go down the slide.

Letting go....wheeeeeee!

Coming in for a landing.  Looks like she was the first one to use the slide today.

Those leaves were all wet!

My Day

I had a very long and tiring day at school today.  It started this morning when another teacher and I had to give a presentation on writing to all our juniors in the cafeteria.  It went well but I was kind of nervous and it took us days of preparation to put it all together.

After that we retired to our rooms with the students who will be in our room for the state test they'll be taking over the next three days.  We did more writing review with them there. 

At 10:30 the rest of the students arrived and we had all four classes but only for 45 minutes each.  I was pooped by this time.

But it wasn't over.  At the end of the month we are having our ten-year evaluation and today the chairpersons had to meet with the chairman of the visiting team.  He told us everything we have to do over those four days.  It was overwhelming and I was seeing double by the time it was over.

I walked out of school at 3:30 and it was an absolutely beautiful fall day so I went home, changed, and took a walk with my camera through the Smith Hydro Peninsula Park.  I so needed this wonderful fresh air!

Here are some of the pictures of mostly weeds that I took.

Kylie in My Neighbor's Backyard

This was taken last summer (Gosh, it seems so long ago!) when I was at home one day with Kylie.