March 10, 2014

     We have yet to see the first robin this year, I have a feeling he will be late if he is smart.  But when he does come, what a welcome sight he will be.  This week it will warm up just enough so the sap begins to rise in the sugar maples.  So...I guess for March, that is just about where it should be.

March 9, 2014

     The character of Dickon in The Secret Garden is one of my favorites in all of Children's Literature.  I love how he is intuitive about nature, how he loves animals, but especially how he draws Mary out of her crankiness with his kind and gentle ways.
       I have a few students this year who passionately love animals and want to work with them when they are older.  They are a good influence on me, since I basically fear anything that moves that isn't human. (It is a family trait from my mother's side.)  It has taught me that we can influence the people around us to take a second look at the things they may not love (or fear) and change their outlook by example.  That is a wonderful contribution to make to the world.

March 8, 2014

     I have felt more like sickly Colin in  The Secret Garden than lively Mary Lennox lately.  A week ago Thursday a student came back to school with a very contagious germ that spread through my class like wildfire.  We had no school on Friday, but by Monday almost everyone had succumbed to coughing, sneezing, and blowing their noses.  I had to buy a small case of kleenex just to survive.  I think I bonded with some of the quieter students in our misery together.  What does that say for the climate of my classroom?
     So... this weekend I have to squeeze in some quiet recovery time amongst house cleaning and preparing refreshments for an open house at school tomorrow.  I will be sure to let someone else serve the cake and punch to our guests and stay far away from that table.
    Hopefully I will recover to take a few steps outside into some spring weather next week and grow strong again in the warm March sunshine.

March 6, 2014

     It is serendipitous to make friends wherever you might find them, or however unlikely that person might be.  Just to have someone to talk to once in awhile, who will speak the truth, even if it stings a little.  We can grow so much from these relationships however brief or long they endure.   What has never worked for me were forced friendships.  If it doesn't naturally fall into place, its just not going to work for me no matter how hard we try.  I thank the Lord for the sensible, no nonsense people He has placed in my life here and there.  I have needed them so much and been so thankful for them.

March 5, 2014

     Yesterday as I took clean clothes out of the dryer I caught a whiff of spring air.  I don't know the source of the scent, since there is a foot or more of snow on the ground and we are still held fast in winter's grip.  But I will take the scent from whatever door it is emitting from!

March 2, 2014

     Oh, to see the lush green of this illustration in real life again!  It has been so long.   Hopefully when spring does come it will be a rapid thaw and the world will transform before our eyes.  By Thursday of this week the temperatures are supposed to rise and on Friday we have a field trip to learn about maple sugar making.  I'm sure no sap will be rising, but it is the thought that counts.
     Everyone's spirits have been sagging because of this long winter, but we've had long winters before.   Somehow, it hasn't been the weather that has brought me down, rather what is happening indoors.  It was good to have a respite on Friday to go to conference, even though the information wasn't new and there were too many business meetings.
     I have new hope and strength to go on, at least for tomorrow...

March 1, 2014

     With the winter we have had this year, I feel as cranky as Mary Lennox at the beginning of The Secret Garden before she learns to play outside and get some fresh air.  So hopefully by the end of March,  we will be unlocking some secrets in the garden.  I'm fearful of what I might find, have my perennials survived?
     It is such a beautiful time when the earth begins to awaken again.  I hope to have time to acknowledge springtime for the miracle it truly is when everything begins to emerge from hibernation.  Maybe I'll even befriend a robin like Mary did...