I looked outside

to take a walk and wondered

Will the rain make my hair curl?

I looked outside to take a walk and wondered

Will the cars splash water on me?

I looked outside to take a walk and wondered

Will I slip on the wet leaves?

I looked outside to take a walk and wondered

Will my coat become wet?

I looked outside to take a walk and decided

To find out.

 

 

A work in progress…

What, you thought I was talking about me?

While I’m certainly not perfect,

my growth has been better than this.

 vegetable garden, first day of summer

Anchorage, Alaska

it was a fair day…

For going to the Fair.  Skipping some school.

A small state Fair, not prone to provide the thrills others get to see.

But when you were little, it didn’t matter.

Brother and sister now negotiate.

You ride this–I’ll ride that.

and Sharing tickets.

While hanging on against the forces provided.

To spend mightily while staving off the

end of the day and the return to the routine.

Moving on to the next spin doctors

As I stop think that I did not see this until I was just this age.

A Kiddie Land on the highway going into town

shared space with a drive-in movie, showing monsters and shaky sheriffs

next to a swimming pool that chilled even in the 100 degree heat.

being Raised by parents who never experienced a Fair

Life continued much the same

With patterns repeated of

Activities, sights and sounds.

yet, As the rain begins, we move

into the barns to smell animals we can’t identify.

And talk to the turkey, jump when the rooster crows and

admire the softness of the bunnies.

Heading home, feeling slightly sick

A sure sign that it was a Fair day.

Alaska State Fair

Palmer, Alaska

September 1st 2010

No one liked dinner tonight…

I thought it was good.

So, I cleaned my plate

anyway.

No one wanted to sit at the table

So, I cleared it off and made them sit there

anyway.

No one ever wants to come outside

So, I went out to feel the air

anyway.

Then I saw my gift for today

So, I shared it with them

anyway!

It’s raining…

Through here.

And up here.

And under here.

And down here.

And beside here.

And back here.

That is correct.

It is raining.

record set of 28 consecutive days of rainfall.

summer garden

August 16th, 2010

It’s raining on my Roof

and I have always liked the rain.

In fourth grade, I can remember the rain outside the classroom windows.

The room seemed cozy and calm.

That is the only year I remember the rain.

That is the only grade in which I was in a “real” classroom.

Kindergarten was in the basement of a church and the teacher drew cakes for us on the chalkboard for birthdays.

First grade was in a high school.  We had lockers and the bathrooms were really big.

They scared me and I cried that year.

Everyday I would wave to Nancy in her typing class as we went to eat in the cafeteria with the high school students.

They were really big.

Second and third grade were in a high school annex.

No playground.  No cafeteria.

Miss Dinkle was the teacher next door

and she yelled all of the time.

She scared me and I cried that year.

Fifth grade was on the top floor of an old, condemned high school.

It was the library at one time.

My teacher was getting pretty old and we just sat around most of the time

working on United Nations models.

Sixth grade was in a basement locker room of that old high school.

People were always getting spanked

and it scared me.

Fourth grade was in a “grade school.”

It had a cafeteria with just little kids.

It had a playground with swings.

My teacher walked us downtown to the library so we could get books.

I never attended an elementary school with a library.

We didn’t have any books to read,

except our Dick and Jane readers.

My dad would drop me off at my grandmother’s

before he went to work and

I walked to school each morning.

I walked home through the field.

I don’t remember my mom those years.

I don’t remember dinners.

I don’t remember who fed me at all.

I just remember the rain.