I’ve discovered I can concentrate on only one thing at at time. I cannot multitask. I apologize to all the parents I told multitasking was not only possible but an important skill to learn.
There has been no writing going on this spring as I’ve focused on printing.
I’m not a huge fan of Mother’s Day except when it comes to cards. I love the idea of telling people in our lives, mothers and those who have served as mothers to us, what we love about them.
Getting a special hand-written card in the mail or tucked into a gift means so much. If you are still looking, please visit my etsy shop!
Sometimes people will come in the shop and say, “Do you have a card for _____?” And, of course, I have everything BUT that. So I was thinking I could make something ambiguous that might fill several needs:
It’s the way you….
~hold my hand when we walk
~pick out the perfect birthday present, even when I haven’t asked
~let me cry when I’m sad
The card is blank inside, so you can write whatever you want.
But, this could also go in another direction…
It’s the way you….
~leave your coffee mug on our wooden table all day
~drag me to your parents’ house when I’d rather stay home
He he! It’s all in the message.
“A lumbar laminectomy is also known as an open decompression and typically performed to alleviate pain caused by neural impingement that can result from lumbar spinal stenosis.”
Her yellow skirt, draped
long across scuffed boots,
followed her into the waiting room
where we sat in hard chairs
drinking cold coffee, watching
repetitive news on the television,
may I interrupt? she asked, raising
her hands above her head
if you need or want a prayer,
please come forward, we will
pray up here together, if you
feel the need, she said
I dropped my chin, stared at
the stain in the carpet while
the family of blond women
with red fingernails trooped up
making a circle around the woman
One by one they rose from
their chairs, and she prayed
for us all as I sat there glued
to my chair, wondering why
they hadn’t cleaned the carpet.
I have been retired from teaching for four years, but I still find myself thinking of September (or late August) as the beginning of a new year, a time to reflect and then move forward. I loved starting each fall with a new class, sometimes a new room, and new plans.
These days, I’m not headed into a classroom, but I still find myself looking forward and thinking of this time as a beginning. Finding a new press in Lyme, Connecticut a few weeks ago has given me something to focus on. As soon as the rollers arrive, I’ll be experimenting with it, seeing what I can do beyond my current proof press.
But more than that, I am trying to envision what I want to do with these presses and my studio. I love having students, especially those squirmy and enthusiastic elementary and middle schoolers. I enjoy helping them figure out how to organize their ideas and put their thoughts on paper (or keyboards). And when I’m not with them, I turn to my type and ink. I had originally thought I’d limit myself to printing my own writing, creating broadsheets of my poetry. But I’ve had fun creating cards to sell in our studio, too. And with my partners now working on bookbinding, the possibilities are endless.
So here’s to starting again, a topic that I’ve revisited many times on this blog! I’ve changed the name of the blog to get things rolling.