Has NOT forgotten about this blog!!

Drawing Dragons

After walking into the Kindergarten class Jan was working in the other day, I immediately realized I was not cut out for elementary school teaching assignments. Yesterday, I taught elementary all day long...
We are not exactly in a place to get picky about what jobs are available, so when I heard that there was no middle school or high school jobs available, I bit the ugly bullet and took the elementary job.
I was what is called a "rover" in the substitute teaching biz, which basically means I cover a bunch of different classes for about 45 minutes each throughout the day. I subbed for 9 different classes. Couldn't help but laugh at different contexts I found myself in over the course of the day. I covered a variety of classes from Kindergarten to 6th grade.

A couple of my favorites/most memorable were:

1. The little boy that wouldn't stop turning his Lego creation's into machine's guns and running around the room like Rambo no matter how many times I told him guns were bad.
2. The little kindergarten girl who believed with all of her being that it was her job to tell me how the "Real" teacher runs the classroom. Including who and how to discipline.
3. The sixth grade boy who during "Sustained Silent Reading" chose the profound tutorial called "Drawing Dragons." Yes, a step by step reading(with illustrations of course) on how to properly draw your everyday dragon.
4. The little guy who couldn't help but tell me why every color of his jelly fish, which he had just finished making out of a coffee filter and water color paints, had so much purple in it.
5. Finally, playing heads up 7-up, pictionary and musical chairs with my last class of the day which had only about 11 kids of whom all spoke only a few words of English.

Some cute kids...but I STILL am not cut out to teach elementary kids.

Eyes from a Bike

sun is creeping in an out like and eel under its shelter. not hot, not cold there isn't a better time to go for a ride. grabbing my "man purse" and throwing it over my shoulder i jump on my bike. fishing pole in one hand, the other focused
on keeping me going in the right direction. the neighborhood is still, on this Saturday afternoon. a car pass in the same way that the wind passes through my short hair. breathing in long breaths acknowledging the Kavod of my Creator. stress
forgotten from the suffering that was selling our Honda and hope streaming in at the thought of time alone followed by a night of connection with those that are closest to me.
slowling cruising on my cruiser, it seems that everyone has been injected with the drug of relaxation and peace. front porches full of husband and wife, friendly conversation and quiet gazes at the sky. there is so much to see when i allow my life
to slow down for a few minutes. it is as though others are looking for opportunities to smile and show their kindness as everyone of my "hello's" was quickly returned with a wave or a "how you doing" accompanied by a gracious smirk.
riding down the jetty like a gymnast on a balance beam, endless sailboats to my left and afternoon strollers on the beach to my right. parking my bike above the jagged jetty rocks i traverse down to the waters edge and toss out my line with the hope of
catching dinner, but content to simply be in the setting i find myself apart of.
i feel my weight hit the bottom of the channel and i slowing work my jig back to my feet. occasionally a sail boat makes its way back into the safety of harbor, while fewer boats begin their voyage to sea. today, the sea is safe for the kayaker and the cruise ship as its surface looks like the glass table that my computer now rests on. no fish my first few casts, but i'm not disappointed. a mother and her duckling play in the water in front of me as they skim across the surface of the water on their hull shaped bellies. no doubt that the Creators plan is actively unfolding today. i walk my bike back up the jetty and chain it up against the "heavy waves" sign and step onto the beach to try my luck casting over the lightly rolling surf.
a tourist takes a picture of me standing with my rod in hand and line in the water...i give an awkward acknowledgment of her action. after a few casts with no luck i think i have hooked the monster...nope, it is apparently the largest clump of seaweed in the old seas' history. my line snaps. apparently i am done fishing for the day and i walk back to my bike with a care free feeling. awkwardly climbing up a few rocks, while avoiding a two early evening lovers chatting/flirting nearby i unlock my bike and head back up the jetty towards home.