Little sundrop, where were you when you family bloomed in June?
They grew, as a big happy family.
They were in full glory on the Fourth of July.
The days of August have put them to rest,
yet here you are like a beautiful new baby.
I will care for you.
Your family must be very proud.
You will all meet under the soil this winter
and bloom again in the spring.
Jennie
Inspiration is not the exclusive privilege of poets or artists. There is, there has been, there will always be a certain group of people whom inspiration visits. It’s made up of all those who’ve consciously chosen their calling and do their job with love and imagination.
Difficulties and setbacks never quell their curiosity. A swarm of new questions emerges from every problem that they solve. Whatever inspiration is, it’s born from a continuous ‘I don’t know.’
Wislawa Szymborska. “The Poet and the World”. Nobel Lecture, http://www.nobelprize.org. December 07, 1996.
“Anyone who does anything to help a child in his life is a hero.”
~Fred Rogers~
Jennie
This sight brought on a huge smile.
A big American flag against the backdrop of the Green Mountains.
Life is good.
Our destination was the Bennington Museum in Bennington, Vermont. There’s a back story here, which many of my longtime bloggers know. Milly the quilter ‘happened’ because of my first visit to this museum. I went there to see the Grandma Moses collection, was thunderstruck at their Haitian quilt exhibit, and… the rest is history. My classroom designed quilts that now hang in National museums. Milly hand-sewed those quilts. The children loved Milly. She dearly loved them, too.
Fast forward to now. I was headed, once again, to see the Grandma Moses collection. The museum hosted a series of webinars on Grandma Moses, which I ‘gobbled up‘, and was determined to create a unit of study at school. Fortunately a museum director loves the idea as well, and gave me a tour of the collection. We brainstormed about the many possibilities at school, using the paintings to learn about seasons, animals, farm life, and more. Did you know Grandma Moses used glitter in her winter paintings?
Thank you Bennington Museum for this lovely gift!
There is a plethora of artifacts and art in the museum. It houses a diverse collection of history from soup to nuts. There is something for everyone. Let’s take a tour.
A magnificent entrance. The building was originally a church.
This eagle is huge and graces the lobby.
A storm coming across the Green Mountains. One of my favorite paintings.
This is what I saw traveling across Vermont.
Bennington is famous for its pottery, still being made today.
Those clever Yankees used everything, including turning tree fungus into art.
Headstones in the old New England cemeteries were beautifully carved and decorated. Many were made of slate which retains its markings.
This one is made of marble- quite rare.
Native hardwood trees make for beautiful furniture.
This is a Memory Ware Tower. It was popular in the late nineteenth century
to collect special personal items and attach them to pottery.
Won’t my children at school have fun making one of these?
Modern art is exciting. I can’t wait to recreate this with the children.
I got lost in this room in the best of ways. Silver, tools, hardware…
Vermonters didn’t throw away anything.
An old fence post can become a work of art.
Maybe this one scared away crows.
Outside the museum was a StoryWalk.
Follow the trail, read the page of the story, and build with items in the woods.
Tell your own story using words on wood chips,
hanging them on a big tree stump.
There was more driving and Vermont discovery. Our last stop was the famous Bennington Monument. Grandma Moses added this monument to some of her popular paintings.
The Bennington Monument is a famous tribute to
The Battle of Bennington,
a 1777 battle of the American Revolutionary War.
Thank you for coming along on my trip to Vermont. Happy trails to you.
Jennie
A giant field of gorgeous sunflowers and zinnias
greeting customers as they arrive to shop for local produce.
A delightful way to start the morning.
Jennie
Yes, I know. You want to be there, too.
Hubby and I put the top down on the old sports car and drove to Vermont. Winding back roads all the way. The weather was glorious, big puffy clouds and a bright blue sky. We’re fans of real maps that show you more than ‘how to get there’. No GPS for this trip, just finding the least traveled roads on our old fold-out map.
We were kids again, not caring if the wind blew our hair or if we we were lost. We had a map, we were good to go. Time was unimportant- a rare thing these days. I was writing poetry in my head. I was singing, everything from Frank Sinatra to the Beatles. I was thinking of my children at school and what I could bring to the table.
We both love history. As we drove over mountain after mountain (no wonder it’s called the green mountain state), we talked about the pioneers who traveled west. Surely, when they crossed one mountain they thought “this is it”, only to see more mountains to cross.
Cool rock fact: Everything to the west of the Green Mountains is marble. Everything to the east is granite. I learned that at the Vermont Marble Museum some years ago.
Vermont is beautiful. Period. Cities are charming, towns are friendly, and you can find everything from agriculture to art. It was a perfect drive, our summer getaway.
We actually had an ulterior motive, visiting the Bennington Museum in Bennington (Part 2). Grandma Moses was the driving force in the best of ways. Oh, yes! Stay tuned.
Jennie
Pete Springer is an outstanding teacher who cares as much for his students as he does for education. He is retired, yet he still reaches out to ‘his kids’. This year with Covid-19, he felt a big loss for his former third grade students. Read just what he did!
Schools in our area shut down in March, and the students finished their school year online. The high school decided to postpone graduation with the hope that they would be able to hold a formal public graduation ceremony on July 31st. Sadly, health conditions have worsened in our area. I don’t know all the specifics, but today the school district is doing the responsible thing and holding a virtual graduation.
One of the little-known secrets about education is that many teachers get emotionally invested in their students’ lives. In other words, the kids become our students for life. The relationship doesn’t suddenly end when they leave our classrooms. It does not conclude for many of the students, either. Some occasionally drop by or reach out online to say hello. It’s always great to catch up and hear about the latest news in their lives.
Over the years, I’ve…
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The days have been hot and humid, not the best for writing. Today I had a huge dose of inspiration. I played with E.B. White’s Underwood typewriter. Really.
I was so very careful. Of course I didn’t hit a key. What I did was even better; the keys on the typewriter are slightly indented and round, perfect for a finger. I fingered the keys, running the tips of my fingers in circles on each key. I was soaking in all the words E.B. White had typed.
This typewriter typed “some pig”, “terrific”, and many more wonderful words. Did I find those letter keys? T-E-R-R-I-F-I-C? Of course I did. Can you imagine the feeling of touching the words E.B. White wrote?
There’s more.
E.B. White read aloud Charlotte’s Web. His original recording, chapter by chapter, was made on record albums in a boxed set. I had no idea.
I opened the box and read the labels on the albums. Each record side has two or more chapters. This boxed set was a gift from E.B. White to his grand niece. He is Uncle Andy to her.
“Jennie, you’re crying.”
“I guess I am.”
“He wrote me a letter when he sent the recording.”
“Do you see where he started to sign it E.B. and then crossed it out, remembering it was for his grand niece? Will you read the letter aloud to me?”
I noticed the signature. Very cool! And, I read the letter aloud. Gifted writers use few words to convey many thoughts. This letter is a case in point. And, when was the last time you used the word ‘dispirited’? What a lovely letter to Lindsay from her Uncle Andy.
When a new school year begins, I start chapter reading on ‘day one’. Every year the first book I read is Charlotte’s Web. It is always the favorite. I have written many blog posts on Charlotte’s Web and on reading aloud. This is the most important thing I do in teaching. Having the opportunity to touch E.B. White today inspires me to write. Oh, does it ever! It also gets me excited for the new school year and reading aloud Charlotte’s Web.
Jennie
“It was a dark and stormy night.”
A Teacher's Reflections 