What Students Remember Most About Teachers

Irene hit us yesterday morning.  For all the hurricane predictions, she was not as wild a woman as we all expected, reduced merely to a tropical storm by the time she reached us.  However, she unleashed a bit of fury in her passing by, knocking over trees, throwing debris all across our lawn, tossing flowerpots onto the ground as if they were bits of paper lying around.  I opened the door to shake out a towel, and she whipped the brush I had just used out of my hand, flinging it several meters ... continue reading...

I was cleaning up after supper, when he suggested that we sit out on the veranda for coffee.  I turned around and saw the box of chocolate truffles waiting as an invitation for something more, a date with my husband on the porch swing.  I could feel the excuses surfacing...remnants from supper lay hardening on dishes strewn all over the counter, crumbs scattered the floors, and bits of paper and pencils spread over the top of the kitchen cabinet, a medley of our children’s forgotten drawings and ... continue reading...

Emotion bubbling over into anger, spewing words reeking of bitterness.   Blood pulsing, heat rising, heart racing.   Hands fluttering over countertops, wiping at invisible stains.   I scrub the same spot distractedly, then pace the kitchen, a million things to do and I cannot think of a single one of them right now.  Frustration is the feeling, and this is what it looks like at this moment in time.  I come to the figurative pen and paper, and I wait for words to write.  I am trying my best to ... continue reading...