If I were a squirrel would I still love the view up a winter tree?
Or would I, having always known it, never even really see it?
Up a Winter Tree
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Author Archives: Jo Hawke
31/365: Laying Down Trophies
We used to sing that old hymn, “The Old Rugged Cross,” in church.
The chorus goes like this:
“So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross, Till my trophies at last I lay down; I will cling to the old rugged cross, And exchange it some day for a crown.”
When I was taking the scenic route home from school today, checking out houses listed for sale on my Realtor.com app, I drove down a dead-end street. As I was backing around to three-point-turn myself out of there, I noticed the trash pile at the street in front of the last house on the left:
Trophies. Big, shiny trophies. All laid out for the trash truck.
I wondered about the person who decided those trophies had lost their value. Did he work hard for them? Did she love them when she won them? Has he now died and left them to someone else who didn’t see them as valuable as he did?
I thought about the trophies that I’ve won, the awards and books and ribbons. Many of them are stored in a big plastic box that’s nothing more than a huge pain to move when we finally do (and we will). Why do I hang onto those things? Are my memories not enough?
When I read this to Kevin, he said it ties in with the words of his patron saint, Juan de la Cruz, that have been ringing in his ears all day:
“In order to arrive at possessing everything / Desire to possess nothing.”
The trophies, along with the status and prestige we “earn” through the years, hold only the value that we place on them, nothing in themselves.
And when we place value on these things and qualities, we distort the very reason we exist: to praise God every second of every day.
30/365: Boys in the Woods
My boys spent some time in the woods today.
They crossed the creek, braved the briars, and skirted the snake. And they returned to me full of energy, with a renewed bond between them and bearing new “Indian names.”
Kevin is “Badger”; Lucas is “Wild Cat”; Atticus is “Stalking Wolf”; and I am “Spirit Moon Water.”
More on the Native American theme later. 😉
Imagination
I cut this out of a magazine years ago for a bulletin board in my classroom. I still like it lots.
28/365: The Rules
I’m thinking my classroom rules should apply to the “real world,” too. 😉
27/365: Shakespeare’s Sardonic Side
Every morning, just after the first-period tardy bell rings, my students and I are called via intercom to join together in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. (VA Code Ann. §22.1-202, B-C)
So we stand, many of us with hands over hearts, a few of us audibly pronouncing the long-ago memorized words.
Most days, I’m at the front of the classroom when the announcement begins, having just come in after doing my before-and-after-class doorway hall duty.
But sometimes, when I’ve come in and moved quickly enough to handle something near my desk or when the announcement is a bit delayed, I end up on the other side of the room, nearer my desk and the stage where my student computers are, nearer the flag … and nearer Shakespeare.
When my awesome C-106 classroom was handed down to me from a colleague who retired two years ago (Thanks, Betty!), so was Shakespeare. (And Mark Twain, who stands opposite the Bard, and a number of other English-y posters and stuff. What luck!)
It wasn’t until the last few months, however, that I really noticed the expression on Shakespeare’s face.
There I was, saying the Pledge like a good teacher, but I could feel his eyes, weighted down by knitted brow, boring holes in me: “What in Heaven’s name?”
Indeed.
I think it will make a great writing prompt when we start Romeo and Caesar after next week’s exams.
26/365: Sleet on Main
At least, I think it was sleet, anyway.
And since there’s been a lot of talk today on both Facebook and Twitter about all the different types of icy precipitation, I have cause to ponder it.
First, it was icy, so it couldn’t have been freezing rain, since that freezes only after it hits the ground.
Second, it seemed like a stream of icy/watery stuff. Streaming diagonally. I don’t know what conclusion this leads to.
And there’s no third.
I’m going with my initial estimation: sleet. Enough of it to get us out of school an hour early today and two hours late tomorrow, if there’s no additional ice or snow tonight.
And what do I know anyway?
I’ve never even heard of thundersnow until today.
(And guess what? That red squiggly line tells me that neither has Firefox.)
Village Music
Kevin playing in Washington Square Park, July 22, 2010.
This was taken right after we got the turquoise and sterling Mr. Blue (and my amber ring). It was a gorgeous day: not too hot, a bit of breeze blowing, lots of people lounging on the grass.
Only six more months until our next Village show!
24/365: White Oak Mountain
I think I could live with waking up to this view every morning.
23/365: Now, That’s Cold!
We saw this frozen fountain while we were driving around town this afternoon. I downplayed the car in the background in Photoshop with a Gaussian blur.