Adios Summer. See you in a few seasons. Change is some kind of incredible for our souls. I’m noticing the leaves, the air, the fires and how nature in all of it, still cares. Our kids are noticing, too. Often I take notice how they gather, collect leaves and step through the crunchy brown ones. Hiking and walking while noticing nature all around is an art in itself.
Here are some of our Bucket List ideas for Fall Fun Things to do 🙂
Get lost in a corn maze
Use a compass / map to hike in and on the forest trails
Pick some apples
Leaf piles and JUMP in!
Leaf peeping
Pumpkins and Gourds
Draw and observe what you notice
Make natural “decorations” out of nature finds
Hot cocoa 🙂
Make hiking staffs
Make a fire and tell stories
Camp out on the trampoline
Fall movie night outside
Read and reread / retell stories about Fall or just because you like them stories
Chop up wood
Visit the Gnomes and Fairy gardens / Feeling inspired? Make one in your yard 🙂
Make a list of what you’re thankful for (maybe on those beautiful fall leaves 🙂 and put it in a time capsule. Bury it somewhere and send gratitude into the universe and beyond!
3:08 am. How did we get here? I stretch and I yawn into the morning. Into the new day as I give thanks and am filled with gratitude to see another day. During the pandemic, I was deeply moved and inspired to move. To change. To dig deep within myself. I just needed a shovel. During the pandemic, we went virtual as we taught and learned online.
Some grown up students loved it and some did not. Some children loved it and some did not. For instance, I had a student who loved typing on the keyboard. He inspired me to dig deeper within myself. He gave me a shovel without even knowing it. While many times, I push and cheer others on, deep down I knew it was time to push and cheer on myself as well.
I noticed something. Literacy in action as he typed. We were singing Dem Bones and he started typing the sounds of the song out. Not because I told him to but because he wanted to.
What do we do in a world where computers and technology are a part of it. We embrace it and work alongside of it, learn to work with it and even create it. As I am learning coding now, I think about the past languages I learned and recognize coding as a language. Another language to communicate in.
Commas and quite frankly, punctuation matter in the code. You miss it or make a mistake then the code will not work. It will be null and void.
As we started returning to “normal” I didn’t want the old normal. I craved a new normal. So, here I am coding, creating and writing the life I want. The life I need. One that is far from normal. Love and light leads me. We are life. It is now almost 4:00 am on a Tuesday and this will be reaching you at 8:26am. on May 26. Happy reading. Happy living. You are life. Remember that.
A return to normal? Thank you for the offer but no thank you. Who defines normal anyway? What is the standard? What does the new normal even mean or signify? How are you feeling right now in your present moment? Where are you pedaling to? I’m curious. Are you? Who are you? Why are you? Who are we in a process of becoming?
I am embracing building up something different and a chance at change. I am embracing the giant within. Full steam ahead. We are all born geniuses and giants. Let’s not stand on shoulders. Let’s walk and stride like the giant we are. We are giants and geniuses. The word genius in Latin literally means to give birth to. What is your gift? What is holding you back? If you have a gift…Give. It. Away. You can’t take it with you when you leave this Earth. So giants and geniuses: the question is — is when do we start feeling as though we are not? That moment, change. The moment you feel small, change. Do that thing that scares you. Let go and let it be. Learn and move. Movement is life. We are somebody and nobody at the same time, simultaneously.
The ant and the human have a lot in common when you look real close as Emerson and Thoreau had had. And, as I had a close up look in real life. Instead of researching at Walden pond, my research occurred behind my garage as I meditated and observed ants. I see just how much we are connected to all living creatures. True story: when I was little I still remember covering up ant hills and in real life crushing an ant and seeing the effects after close study: I vowed never to crush another ant. At least, not on purpose. The image stays in my mind. But I remember watching as they rebuilt their sandy hill. When something is destroyed, it can be rebuilt into something even better. The ants souls and spirits were not crushed. Although my five year old sticky fingers pushed their ant hill in, the ants decided to rebuild. That is courage and resilience.
Nature shows us character and stories of life. Life is easy and hard. It can be both, at the same time. It can be both beautiful and crushing. These days, I’m not settling for less than what I or what human beings and living things deserve. Point. Blank. Period. Labels? No thank you. Limitations? No thank you. Identifying problems lacking solutions? No thank you. Running circles around the same mulberry bush? No thank you. Stress and worry? No thank you. Meeting myself and others right where they are and row, row, rowing this boat. Singing. Together. Off key. In the words of Mimi: Still teaching in the Key of Life (and beyond). Get her book y’all! It’s a page turner. I return to it again and again to remind me of my why. My why is not to make a living but to make a life. Be mindful of who you surround yourself with. Be careful with this one precious life. Real life y’all! There are real life vampires who don’t just visit in October.
And I embrace movement. Growing pains hurt and heal and all. Crawl, walk, run. Repeat. We are who we are in our actions. Words plus actions. Show me who you are and I believe you. “There is more in us than we know, if we could be made to see it; perhaps for the rest of our lives, we will be unwilling to settle for less.” — Thank you Kurt Hahn for that quote that resonates and encourages me even today.
“That hoop will bring nothing but drugs and crime.”
I replied, “No disrespect but we already have drugs and crime here.”
Unit 4. Washington DC. Our nation’s capital. We had prostitutes, guns, drugs and crime in our neighborhood. We also had amazing individuals come together to do something about it. We also had people go against the change. But we all well most of us, came together.
Most of all, we did something about it. Read previous blogs to find out.
You know what else we had? A very high illiteracy rate.
Research shows when you don’t have reading literacy or math literacy you most likely will end up in jail. And, guess what? It’s true and that’s why more jails are built. People recognize the power in book literacy and financial literacy.
We need to change the game of education and life. We need to be creative, collaborative, compassionate and chance takers. Most of all, we need to empower one another to be bold and daring.
Don’t ask permission – ask forgiveness.
For approximately 90,000 of DC’s adults, low literacy skills are a barrier to just about everything – completing their education, getting and keeping a decent job, and staying out of poverty (Washington Literacy Center).
If you want to find out more of how to help with illiteracy please click here:
From the Playground 