Sensory Writing Prompt for Thursday Quick Write

Kristina Paustian

Posted July 18, 2013 at 7:04 am | Permalink

The water laps rhythmically against the aged wooden pier. The waves echo as they gently push against the boat launch.
The breeze is warm and humid as it brushes the water. It is a slight relief from the surrounding muggy air but it brings along a fishy odor.
Across the lake there are tree-covered hills, lush and emerald green with a light mist hovering over the hills in the distance. There is an old white farmhouse and barn tucked into the hills, with farmland running right up to the river’s edge where it intermingles with the lake waters.
Around the curve of the land past the old white farmhouse is the Wisconsin River with glistening white sandbars and rugged bluffs that swallows nest in.
There is only one boat on the entire lake at this moment, its motor muffled by the distance between us. A fish leaping for its insect breakfast it splashes as it re-enters the water. The only other sound is bird song and the waves rippling to the shore.

Reply

• Sandra Stiles
  Posted July 18, 2013 at 8:09 am | Permalink
  For me this is such a peaceful scene. I can picture myself there seeing and hearing the same things.
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• Margaret Simon
  Posted July 18, 2013 at 8:48 am | Permalink
  Nice description of a beautiful setting. You have taken me there.
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• Erin
  Posted July 18, 2013 at 10:50 am | Permalink
  I love the verbs that you’re using here: “laps”, “echo”,”tucked”,”Leaping” –so vivid; they bring this to life. Great job!
  Replys

The Essence of What We Once Were

 “All grown-ups were once children... but only few of them remember it.”  Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, author of "The Little Prince"   
     As we mature and life changes us, I think we can begin to forget who we were as children and morph into adults we never planned on being.  I try to remind myself of things that I loved as a child and return to the simple joys of reading, writing, sketching, playing the piano, baking treats, and yes, even weeding the garden to retain the person I once was.  It is good to be reminded of childhood, especially when working with children, not to expect more of them that we were ourselves, and to encourage the joys we experienced growing up.
     I have noticed recently how some people I grew up with and really enjoyed turned into completely different people as adults, one can hardly recognize who they were in their youth.  How and when do we become the people we never thought we would be?  I'm thinking that it is a gradual insidious process that no one could really place their finger on to say "There, that is when you became someone else."
     How can we see ourselves as others see us?  If I look at myself in many ways I am still  as insecure and sensitive I have always been, but I have grown more confident through experiences as a teacher.
   We are at best complicated and complex people of many layers.  I have seen my own children grow and mature and change for the better.  I hope they never change completely and always retain the essence of what they once were.

Research:
     We measured the personalities, values, and preferences of more than 19,000 people who ranged in age from 18 to 68 and asked them to report how much they had changed in the past decade and/or to predict how much they would change in the next decade. Young people, middle-aged people, and older people all believed they had changed a lot in the past but would change relatively little in the future. People, it seems, regard the present as a watershed moment at which they have finally become the person they will be for the rest of their lives. This “end of history illusion” had practical consequences, leading people to overpay for future opportunities to indulge their current preferences.

http://www.goodtherapy.org/therapy-for-control-issues.html

Pewit's Nest for Teachers Write

Kristina Paustian

Posted July 16, 2013 at 7:02 am | Permalink

I wrote this last week as we hiked in this place and I was focusing on all the colors, but got some acoustics in…
Pewit’s Nest is a deep gorge of layered rock that appears seemingly out of nowhere between two farmer’s fields of corn. It is shaded and cool with plants of every shade of green imaginable: verdant vines clinging to the trees, moss growing on the sides of damp rocks, the pine green of the evergreen trees swaying in the breeze above, the jaded shade of the maple leaf, the olive green of the oak leaves, lime green of the succulent plants clinging to the shore. It is hard to pick out the sound of the waterfall from the sound of the breeze lightly rustling the branches above our head. A pine tree so aged that the bark resembles that of a cottonwood tree stretches towards the sky. The edge of the gorge is cool with the forest shading the rocks with dappled light. The scent of pine is strong as we crunch the pine needles underfoot. The buzzing of insects is the only sound disturbing the peace of this beautiful place.

Reply

• Ericka
  Posted July 16, 2013 at 8:17 am | Permalink
  Kristina, I felt like I was on that hike with you – lovely!
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• Catherine
  Posted July 16, 2013 at 11:48 am | Permalink
  This sounds like the perfect place for a hike! Nicely done!
  Reply
• Holly Mueller
  Posted July 16, 2013 at 4:01 pm | Permalink
  I want to be there! You’ve described it as such a peaceful place. Great sensory details. I love all the references to “green.”
  Reply
• DebKrygeris
  Posted July 16, 2013 at 6:17 pm | Permalink
  Wow, great descriptive writing! I visualized and heard your scene so clearly!
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  Andrew Starowicz

  Posted July 16, 2013 at 9:22 pm | Permalink

  Kristina, thank you for taking me on that hike. Wow! I felt like I was there. Vivid descriptions and solid details! Hopefully that kicked off a great day of writing for you.

  Reply