Florida, Oddly Enough
The white bench moves around. It was gone for a while, and it's new spot is uncomfortably close to the sandy golf cart path, which wouldn't be relaxing, to me. I've only seen it being moved, once. By a 60ish suntanned woman talking on her phone, on speaker. She was picking up one end then another to move it into the sun. She seemed annoyed that a stranger walking by might be privy to her conversation, but what could she do? She wanted to sit in the sun and talk on the phone. It moves along the creek from time to time. I've sat on it to fix my sandals when walking Sandy. Benches are placed in strategic locations, a nice gesture for the many amblers in this community. Places to rest or birdwatch or think. Sometimes good sentences come to me when I'm walking but disappear before I can write them down, or speak them into my phone.
I've had car expenses lately and more to come. I'd really hoped to have made more of a dent in my debt at this point. My goal is to be rid of consumer debt, including car payments by June. I want to feel free. There is that goal, and another goal, to master more of the teaching strategies I've become aware of the past two years. I have always loved teaching reading, but for the first time, I feel some success in teaching math. This is exciting to me. I remember sitting hot, confused, and anxious while my teacher wrote mumbo jumbo on the board. Dreading the full page of problems I'd have to do on my own, later, having no idea what she had just said. I'd been far away when she was talking about all those numbers and what to do with them. I've been making a hybrid of Montessori math techniques with lots of imagery, drawing the problem on the board. It seems to be helping, but there is such a thing as a curriculum map, and I'm bound by it. Again I wish for big changes in education, so we can stop pushing some hypothetical model kid through the system. I think children need that time to sit with new learning. To absorb it and have a little break. Something like a little bench to sit on, so they can get used to the idea, and ready to move along.
The week had some sartorial successes, a 7 dollar pair of purple pants bought at the outlet mall, and a 5 dollar thin white cotton 70'sish top that looks nice with a jean skirt, I'd not had a good top to go with. I had a scoop of violet and vanilla gelato while I was there, too. I spent last weekend going through clothes and organizing them for the cooler weather. Basically moving some clothes to the front of the open shelves that serve as my dresser. I am fine with my minimalist living situation and hope I can keep it going. Cardboard boxes and utility shelving is working out fine. Of course, having a very reasonably priced storage facility makes this possible, and my good son keeping some precious items in Ohio.
The change in the air has come. It is officially nice in Southwest Florida.
Here come the snowbirds. They know it is the week before Halloween when you get the change. Last week I noticed as I walked through wondrous layers of cool and warm air. It felt a little magical. So here I am, on the park bench of life, so to speak, getting used to where I am being.
~Dorothy Dolores
I've had car expenses lately and more to come. I'd really hoped to have made more of a dent in my debt at this point. My goal is to be rid of consumer debt, including car payments by June. I want to feel free. There is that goal, and another goal, to master more of the teaching strategies I've become aware of the past two years. I have always loved teaching reading, but for the first time, I feel some success in teaching math. This is exciting to me. I remember sitting hot, confused, and anxious while my teacher wrote mumbo jumbo on the board. Dreading the full page of problems I'd have to do on my own, later, having no idea what she had just said. I'd been far away when she was talking about all those numbers and what to do with them. I've been making a hybrid of Montessori math techniques with lots of imagery, drawing the problem on the board. It seems to be helping, but there is such a thing as a curriculum map, and I'm bound by it. Again I wish for big changes in education, so we can stop pushing some hypothetical model kid through the system. I think children need that time to sit with new learning. To absorb it and have a little break. Something like a little bench to sit on, so they can get used to the idea, and ready to move along.
The week had some sartorial successes, a 7 dollar pair of purple pants bought at the outlet mall, and a 5 dollar thin white cotton 70'sish top that looks nice with a jean skirt, I'd not had a good top to go with. I had a scoop of violet and vanilla gelato while I was there, too. I spent last weekend going through clothes and organizing them for the cooler weather. Basically moving some clothes to the front of the open shelves that serve as my dresser. I am fine with my minimalist living situation and hope I can keep it going. Cardboard boxes and utility shelving is working out fine. Of course, having a very reasonably priced storage facility makes this possible, and my good son keeping some precious items in Ohio.
The change in the air has come. It is officially nice in Southwest Florida.
Here come the snowbirds. They know it is the week before Halloween when you get the change. Last week I noticed as I walked through wondrous layers of cool and warm air. It felt a little magical. So here I am, on the park bench of life, so to speak, getting used to where I am being.
~Dorothy Dolores
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