This morning we had my daughter’s accommodations meeting for school. That’s the yearly meeting where we look at her accommodations that are in place due to her learning issues. She’s in 7th grade now, age 14. My job is to not talk. To let her answer for herself. To listen. I listened pretty well this […]
Mulch
Mulch by Nancy Schatz Alton Words tear up the trees inside of me. Roots exposed, I reach for tools to tamp down destruction. There’s no beating this sadness down. These old tracks, this sordid tale, leaks calcium from my bones I make a box of love, grief’s […]
Pushing Forward
Lately I‘m pushing forward toward what I want to be doing more of in my life. I don’t think I realized how vulnerable that would make me feel. I guess maybe that’s why some people say it’s easier to not follow your passion for work. I mean I know this. I know following writing where […]
9
Today has been strange enough to merit a look at the daily horoscope in the daily paper. It says today will be a 9. A 9 = wrestling with our printer for an hour & your husband agreeing to print out the fiction stories for your last independent writer’s class. A 9 = sweating through […]
Teaching Love
I just finished teaching, my 2nd out of 3 creative play series for adults. It’s more clear to me now that this is one of my prime reasons for being. I love sharing word play, my love of words, how to sandwich words together and see what happens. It might seem funny to know this […]
The Kitchen Sink
It’s only 9 am but my brain is already full of fodder. “Nearly 50 Charged in College Admissions Bribery Scandal.” An obit of a man who loved catching salmon but gave up hunting. The way coffee tastes. My to-do list, the future day unfurling too fast. I want to be poetic, write gorgeous words that […]
Lit Fuel
Lit Fuel by Nancy Schatz Alton “The dissimilarity of feeling that might underlie the similarities of expression— reading that in Madame Bovary brought to mind the lost art of burning a bridge; so this may be a good time to let you know you’ve been increasingly not on my mind. One life to live is […]
Heat
One of my closest friends is the warmed air that pushes out of our heating vents again and again all day long. If I can’t hear for all the thoughts in my head, I hold on to that sound: the steady warming rush that seeps into me slowly and well. Over the years, I’ve figured […]
Word Play
It’s been an extra creative week for me as I taught my first Structuring Creativity class. Having one more container for creative play: nice. I think it gave me good energy for my Friday classes. I teach writing to small groups of kids most Fridays. Yesterday, one of my students wrote a poem that really […]
Start Me Up
Start Me Up by Nancy Schatz Alton “I’m in love, I’m in love, I’m in love.” -Anton Chekhov I’m in love with the way the cottonwood trees make lines: planted perfectly a grid that mimics the drum beat that kickstarts my heart pulses my blood alive! alive! alive! sky spits rain-snow, snow-rain, sleet muck March […]