In an ordinary year, the week before school lets out for the holidays is the hardest week of the entire year. This is the week that kids struggle to stay engaged, and teachers struggle to keep kids engaged. This is the week traditionally where we have programs, and activities but still try to also have math and reading. This is also the week that I write my annual holiday Stanzas: Twas the last month of 2020, what more can I say? Between covid and politics, we are ready for it to all go away; The kids are zoomed out, and…
Do You hear What I Hear- The sound of Christmas
When I think about holiday traditions, and memories of Christmas past I think about my Gran’s live tree with all of the handmade ornaments made by children and grandchildren over decades. I think of Christmas trees made with fishing net found on the beach and decorated with coral and shells. I think of Luminaries lining the arroyo to the beach. Most of all I think of Music. In some of my earliest holiday memories- mostly at my Gran’s house- There was always Christmas music on the record player. Starting after Thanksgiving, she would play Christmas music while she napped. She…
Aunt Meg and Moon the Goon
My story would be incomplete with out the story of Aunt Meg. Most of the pictures of me before age 6 were probably taken by Meg. I slept in her bed when I stayed at Gran’s house, I was her tag along, and in my child’s eyes, she was the most beautiful girl in the world. She was my playmate, she was my care provider, and she was my friend. I remember hanging out at Old Friends Ice Cream Parlor, eating grilled cheese from the Arctic Circle with her, hanging out at the student union at Cochise College, and even…
On the Road Again and Other Adventures with Jack and Pat
While I am reminiscing about Bisbee, child hood, young adulthood, and the influences that shaped my life, my story would be incomplete with out including the stories of Jack and Pat. My earliest memory of them was a road trip my mom and I took in a Green Datsun B210 to visit them in California. They took us to Disney, and we went fishing. We dug in their garden. We went to Yosemite where Jack played Willie Nelson 8 track tapes, and he hooked his lab Ike up to a tarp and threw sticks for Ike to chase while I…
Going Back to Bisbee
They say there is no place like home. They also say you can never go back. As I arrived in my home town on a last minute trip, there was a sense of nostalgia, but it just isn’t the same. Home for me, in Bisbee, exists in my memory so in that way, I can never go back. Those moments, those days, those experiences are gone. The town has changed and evolved. What remains are the people I love, so the adage about home is where the heart is rings true. The old Plaza liquor where we used to walk…
The Gift You Give When Time is Running Out
Last week I was thinking about the O’Henry tale of ‘What is Enough’ which is actually titled “The Gift of the Magi” which I often do this time of year with all of the materialism of the holiday. I was also thinking about my mom, and what to get her for Christmas. This has been a predicament because she has everything she could need, and buys the things she wants so the material things to her are irrelevant. In prior years I have bought her silly things that I thought would make her laugh like comical egg collection containers and…