Shooting Nature

New Header photo and shooting nature

It has never been my life's desire to live near a swamp. However I find the animal life around one to be quite fascinating. If you open your eyes there is nature study everywhere. The other day I went to the state park for a quick "teacher conference" (see previous post) and to snap some pictures.

I walked right by this scene and stopped short. I had been looking at the ground watching for snakes and I almost missed it. In the middle of the shot there is a Great Blue Heron. Can you find it?

Look at the tail end of the "d" in Wakefield, there it is. One again nature gives us a life lesson. Do you know what it is? To see the truly beautiful things in life sometimes you have spend time looking where you didn't think there was beauty at all.

The Return of Alex Rider!

The latest installment in the Alex Rider series, Crocodile Tears, arrived today. We have already read through chapter two. I can't say how excited I am that it is here. I may stay up late tonight and get a good bit - or should I say bite - of reading done.

I wonder how Alex will save the world this time?!

ETA: I have posted a review at the Elegant Lion blog. It gets two thumbs up from me.

Teacher's Field Day

I was able to get out into nature by myself today. I needed a little break from Nanowrimo and I wanted to catch some fall in the park. Being in nature helps me regroup. I think I'll need that this week. The above is me having a private teacher-parent conference. Looking for thoughts, inspiration, and peace.

The lovely bird has found balance. Why is it so easy for birds to balance on the tiny branches of life? Is it because the are able to fly above it and see it in better perspective.

These dying leaves were one of the most vibrant colors in the park today. Vibrancy right before plummeting to their deaths on the ground. I'm sure there is something poetic there. I'll steal from Homer, "the Generation of Leaves".

These berries were beautiful. Berries thrive best in groups. Another point to ponder.

I love the colors in this picture. We recently had a few big storms. There were a lot of small trees down and many logs in the water. I love the composition of the broken branch framing the greenery behind it. So maybe being broken does not mean being useless. Another great point along the way.

All in all it was a great teacher's meeting. I think we'll schedule those on a regular basis.

N is for November and NaNoWriMo

November used the be that month that lay quietly between the chaos of December and the frustration of October. Not that November has been without its own celebration, there is that whole Thanksgiving holiday, a whole week off of school at the end of the month. Thanksgiving around here has meant a few things. We cook a dinner and poke at the turkey every few hours to see if it is done. Then we go to the movie. OR We decide on Thanksgiving Day that we'd rather go out and suffer through a turkey dinner prepared by someone else. (My family suffers when I cook too, they have learned to eat anyway) One year I think we filled up on a family size tub of popcorn at the theater.

Anyway this is now the third year that November has had some excitement. In addition to schooling Z I'm writing a story. My son would say it with rolling eyes, "You're writing another? What about all of those you've already written." Then he'd point to the bottom shelf of the classroom bookshelf that holds several stories in various stages of completion.

I love Nano. (www.nanowrimo.org) for those who don't know what it is. Basically the world of writers gets together and crafts (*snort*), okay writes a plotted, not plotted, 50k words in 30 days. The average is 1667 words per day. It's the 5th and I'm on 10,345. The process is the reward. The first year I thought I'd never reach 50k, the 2nd year I thought I could never stop writing, This year I'm actually liking my story.

Part of the plot has been bits and pieces of dreams I've had over the last few months. Thankfully I have weird dreams that wake me up in the middle of the night going HUH! I've already interwoven about five or six dreams into my story.

Along this road I must also continue with schooling. This year has been eye-opening in many way. We are only eleven weeks into the year and we've had breakthroughs, ephiphanies, stumbling blocks, and even a few victories.

We're branching out and trying a few new things. Academically and socially. November is the month to allow those ideas and revelations to stew. Stirring once in a while, it will be interesting to see how Thanksgiving break ties all of them together.

Thanksgiving is about being thankful. I can't wait to see what develops in Z and in my story in these few short weeks.