Slice of Life #20 Challenge Day 6/31: House Spooks

Slice of Life #20 Challenge Day 6/31:

House Spooks

I had had a telephone conversation with a good friend. I had written a few lines of gratitude in my notebook. I had read my daily entry in Mark Nepo's The Book of Awakening. After my long day, including three hours of parent teacher conferences following a full day of school, I was ready to retire. Turning off my nightside lamp, I situated my covers and practiced a few deep cleansing breaths. It was quiet. I closed my eyes, confident that tonight I would get a good night's sleep. Even as an adult, nightly routines are so important to me.

Not even one minute must have passed when I heard some odd sounds:

Rustle.

Howl.

Scratch. 

Scratch. 

Scratch.

Startled, my eyes flung open. 

What is happening? 
Is someone or something trying to get into my house? 
What large bedroom object could I use for self-defense? 

My anxious mind spooled. 

Creeping over to my eastern window, I cautiously peered out from one slat of the plastic window blind. 

Branches whipped windows/

Tall evergreen bent, hunched now./

Corner street sign swayed.

It's just a windy night, I reassured myself. I can go to sleep.  

Breathing a sigh of relief, I returned to my bed, pulling my log cabin scrap quilt tight around my body. 

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Slice of Life #20 Challenge Day 5/31: Spine Poem Play

Slice of Life #20 Challenge Day 5/31: 

Spine Poem Play

In the past I have written about my love of collecting words and phrases, arranging them, and simply dabbling with words. For me, creating Spine Poetry is pure play. My nerdy girl soul comes alive.

Fellow Slicers, Parent Teacher Conferences is tonight. No matter how great/meaningful the conversations I will engage in, it will be a long, exhausting day. So, I intentionally began today with writing play.

Below are two Spine Poems I created this morning. The first poem is based on a collection of books I am currently reading. The second originates from a group of professional books, who all happen to be written by educational professionals I especially admire.

The Beautiful Lost/
Broken Open/
Speaking Truth

Being the Change/
Clearing the Way/
Powerful Learning/
Game Changer!
The Journey Is Everything

I have created Spine Poetry before; it's always a bit addicting, yet rewarding. Below are links of past posts I have written that also include my Spine Poetry: 

• http://trinarrative.blogspot.com/2019/03/march-slice-of-life-challenge-day-8.html
• http://trinarrative.blogspot.com/2019/02/tuesday-slice-of-life-snow-day-spine.html
• http://trinarrative.blogspot.com/2018/03/slice-of-life-2018-day-3spine-poetry.html

How will you show up to play today? 

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Slice of Life #20 Challenge Day 4/31: Stumble

Slice of Life #20 Challenge Day 4/31: 

Stumble

Early this morning I was on a lovely walk. As usual, my mind was deep in thought - spooling some recent events in my mind, what did he mea - 

Bam!
Thud!
Crash!

First, I felt my wrist skid to the pavement, then my knees skin through the terse sidewalk. 

In a dramatic, jarring fall, I found myself sprawled flat on the ground.

Oy!

I looked to my left, to my right. Ahead. Behind. I breathed a sigh of relief - no one was around to witness my fall. 

(By the way, it wasn't ice that I slipped on. Nothing darted out in front of me. I simply wasn't paying attention and fell from a space of uneven part of a sidewalk.)

My wrist was bleeding, the blood already coagulating. I felt the sting of both my knees and already knew that my knees had to be bleeding, too. 

At this point in my walk, I was over half-way on my route - too far to turn around. I slowly peeled myself off of the pavement; I kept walking and finished my walk. 

As soon as I returned home, I tended to my wounds, cleaning and bandaging them. I was thankful I was only dealing with minor skin abrasions, nothing more. 

With apologies to the graphic nature of this wound, my casualty of this morning's stumble

Dear readers, I assume that if you fell like I did this morning, you may have had a similar reaction - first wondering if anyone saw you stumble before you even took the time to take care of yourself. In reflection, I am certain that this is so automatic for me, in dealing with both physical and emotional stumbles. I worry more about who realizes that I am struggling instead of tending to my immediate needs. How did this become my norm?  

This morning, I am left lingering with this question: How can I focus more on healing and what I need instead of worrying about who saw me stumble? 

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Slice of Life #20 Challenge Day 3/31: Going Through to Get Through

Slice of Life #20 Challenge Day 3/31: 

Going Through to Get Through

It had been a flurry of email exchange back and forth with a friend.  At this time I realized that I had a hard time verbally talking with anyone about some personal issues, but for some reason, I could write about it.

To me, writing has always been a welcome space to share when I couldn't speak.

In one of the emails, my friend responded with something like this, "You know that book about the kids going on a bear hunt? As they search for a bear they run into all kinds of obstacles, but they cannot go under or around it or over it. They just need to go through it. It's like that, Trina. You can't get through something until you go through it."

Later that evening, I dug out my eldest child's tattered copy of We're Going on a Bear Hunt and reread it. Michael Rosen's lines stayed with me,

"We can't go over it

We can't go under it

Oh no! 

We've got to go through it!"

For the last four years, I've kept We're Going on a Bear Hunt on my nightstand, a reminder of some long ago advice - you can't get through something until you go through it. As much as I have wanted to bypass messy things in my life, I have found that not dealing with an obstacle can (and likely will) make it worse. 

I recently replaced my son's tattered copy so I could read this without the pages falling off. 

Recently, I went through a divorce. Although it has been amicable and likely the best, healthiest long-term decision for everyone involved, it has still been challening and painful - impacting nearly every aspect in my life.

Yet, I am going through it. I am getting through it. 

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Slice of Life #20 Challenge Day 2/31: Heckrodt Musings

Slice of Life #20 Challenge Day 2/31: 

Heckrodt Musings

When my children were small, we used to spent a large amount of time at a nearby nature wetland reserve, Heckrodt. Following yesterday's church service, I drove my kids to Heckrodt, where we would spend part of the afternoon hiking on the trails.

"Mom, I remember Heckrodt being a lot bigger," my fourteen-year-old remarked as we entered the edge of the reserve. 

"Well, you are a lot bigger than you used to be." Now my son is close to my height, if not taller than me. He continued, "My favorite part was always visiting the turtles and snakes in the nature center. Remember that time we got to hold all of those snakes?"

"I remember searching for animal tracks in the snow," My daughter shared.

I smiled, listening to them share their cache of Heckrodt memories.

As we walked along the snow covered trails, we noticed that there were several people looking up at a tall tree, binoculars in hand. One man even had a huge telephoto lens. 

"What are you looking at?" I asked.

"There's a nest of owlets. Well, no one is sure that any owls actually hatched yet, but you can see the great horned owl at the top of the nest. It's quite amazing."

The tree that included the nest with the great horned owl

Sure enough. Even without binoculars or a telephoto lens, we could see the head of a great horned owl. We stood and watched the tree for a few moments.  

We continued to explore. 

"I forgot how pretty it is here, Mom," My eleven-year-old daughter shared, "you can hear the woodpeckers pecking the trees and the cardinals singing. I like how the small herd of deer hang out here. It's so beautiful here." 

I nodded in agreement.  

These observations, especially coming from my iPhone/iPad/Nintendo Switch obsessed offspring, remind me that it's important for me to get my kids outside.

Being outside helped my busy weekend end on such a peaceful note. I need to get us all outside more. 

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Slice of Life #20 Challenge Day 1: Warm Walk

Slice of Life #20 Challenge Day 1: 

Warm Walk 

It reached 45 degrees Fahrenheit this afternoon - practically hot for March in North East Wisconsin. It was one of those wild Midwest days when you see people playing outside in short sleeves, yet snow still blankets the ground. 

Of course I longed to spend my time outside today. 

Somehow, I convinced my nearly twelve-year-old daughter to take a lengthy afternoon walk with me. Donning our winter boots we ventured off the sidewalks and onto the lovliest unpaved path. 

You don't need go far/

to discover hidden charm-/

neighborhood delight.

Following our long walk, my heart seemed lighter; I felt happy. It was a perfect Sunday afternoon. 

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Slice of Life: Finding my Path

Last September I left the house and neighborhood that I had lived in since 2001. Although I moved to a charming new-to-me neighborhood (less than one mile from my old house) and I still lived in the same city, I felt as if I moved into a whole new community. I didn't really know any neighbors. I didn't have a dog to walk anymore. When my kids were with me, they didn't necessarily want to venture outside. I didn't have a familiar walking route anymore.  

I felt lost. 

For at least the next two months, with the exception of taking my daughter Trick or Treating on Halloween, I only left my house for work, church, to run an errand, or to rake or shovel snow. Fall has always been my favorite season, but this year I found myself literally watching the season change from my window. 

I was lost.

Sometime in early December I decided that enough was enough. I missed not knowing the neighborhood I lived in. I missed being outside. Like it or not, I needed to make some changes. I needed to get back outside and walk. I've known this about myself for a long time - being outside is a great way for me to feel alive - no matter my mood or what's currently happening in my life. 

I needed to find my path again.

So I began small. Over the course of several days, I walked bits at a time - first venturing a block or two, then fifteen minutes. I explored different routes, and I found great delight. I even started catching sunsets again. Soon I was walking regularly and daily again - at least thirty minutes. 

This month I found myself waking early again, just to walk.

Walking outside had been my normal routine for years. It made sense that I needed to get back to out. Returning outside felt good for so many reasons. I met new neighbors and developed new friendships. I felt more comfortable living in my neighborhood. Perhaps most importantly, I began noticing my outdoor surroundings again. This stood out from this morning's walk: 

• the crunch of ice beneath my feet, 
• warm hues of sunrise, 
• birds flitting from feed to ground, searching for seeds,
• faint train whistles,
• owl hoots,
• and even the rustle of branches against my coat. 

Monday's sunrise

It turned out that seeking new paths brought me a lot of joy. 

Walking outside continues to heal my soul. 

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