Tuesday, July 9, 2013

a smattering of slices

at Two Writing Teachers!
It's been a whirlwind of a summer so far.  The day after school ended, I attended two days of "tech talks" run by my district.  I had the weekend and two more days to prepare my archeological dig of my writing life for the Columbus Area Writing Project before we embarked on our three-day retreat.  The next two weeks were filled with such intense writing, learning and bonding that we might not have remembered to breathe if Kevin hadn't kept reminding us!

After all that, I guess last week was a break... except that it certainly wasn't the restful kind!  Instead of just telling you about everything we did, I thought it would be more fun to let you experience it with some images and imagery:

We marched in a local 4th of July parade with the Alumni Band and were dazzled by two straight nights of fireworks and a concert by Chicago!

dazzling fireworks crash
hearts soar with familiar songs
rejoicing as one

Seeing Chicago perform right in my high school's football stadium was incredible!  Husband's high school marching band did a Chicago show, and the OSUMB Chicago show from my rookie year was one of my all-time favorites from my five years in TBDBITL, so we both had special memories come alive as we danced in front of their stage.
The view from our table -- WOW!
Even though all we wanted to do the next morning was sleep, we headed up to Lake Erie for a friend's wedding, where we enjoyed seeing old marching band friends and celebrating the power of love.

snippets of laughter
smiles invite: "Remember when?"
united by love

There was a lot of time between the wedding and reception, so we decided to spend it exploring a secluded nature preserve near our hotel.

We walked alongside a docile deer who was content to keep nibbling, certain that we were harmless visitors...

listened to rippling waves lap leisurely, beating out sweet summer songs,

watched graceful herons and egrets soar in circles, become stately statues casting quiet reflections, and dart forward to come back with flipping flashes in their beaks,

and discovered timid turtles paddling hidden in serene wetlands, exploring worlds beyond our reach.
There's not just the one turtle here, although he certainly posed for us!
We counted at least 35+ in this pond!  See if you can spot some more little turtle heads!
The next day, we braved the rollicking roller coasters of Cedar Point... and some thunderstorms too! 

flying and twisting
barreling through rushing wind
laughing together

No wonder I'm ready for a relaxing week at home!


(side note: Originally, I had a completely different idea for today's slice, and then this came out instead! Isn't it funny where writing can take us?)

11 comments:

  1. Love the photos! I can't believe you got that deer! Love you haikus in between, I must remember that and copy you. (Hope you don't mind)
    Your descriptive sentences just added to the pictures. Enjoy resting!

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    1. Thanks elsie! And it would be an honor if you copied me!

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  2. Okay I have to admit I did get a little breathless keeping up with all you have been doing. It was so clever the way you threaded haikus through out like sparkling jewels. Your photographs and descriptions added to the adventure.
    A relaxing week seems to be in order. Savor it. :)

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  3. I like the addition of photos to help illustrate the weekend. I am not good at haikus so I admire those who are. Nice post. :-)

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  4. Wonderful week of fun and love and writing and photography, Jennifer. Wow! I love all the pics, but especially the turtles. I had to enlarge it, but are the little heads near lily pads? And your haikus are such fun, "'barreling through rushing wind/laughing together" (I love roller coasters!). Thanks for putting it all together!

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    1. Ohio certainly has beautiful scenery when taking the time to notice! It sounds like you've been very busy-enjoy your time when there is nothing but rest left to do! Thanks for sharing the words and pictures of your adventure! Hearing Chicago the band? My hubby would be so jealous!

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    2. Yes, there are some little turtle heads near lily pads in this one, Linda! Plus there were more in the open water outside the picture. We couldn't believe there were so many! Husband loved turtles, so he was enchanted! We are a little scared of roller coasters, but they were fun! You'll have to come over to Cedar Point someday if you love them -- they are supposed to have the best in the world! I always appreciate your thoughtful comments!

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  5. Oh what a lot of great experiences we often pack into our already busy lives. I enjoyed this hybrid text. A collection of complimentary elements to build a picture for the reader. Photo essay, poetry, personal narrative. Thank you for the insight.

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  6. Yeah haiku! Love it! Your pictures are lovely as well...the deer shot is particularly awesome!

    (Paul @ http://birdsandtreesofthemind.wordpress.com -- tried to comment with my Wordpress ID, but got the "Your OpenID credentials could not be verified" message)

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  7. I'm glad that your writing took you to the mixture of pics, texts and haikus. It was a pleasure to read, busy time for sure, but thoroughly enjoyable.

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  8. I am in awe of you! Busy life, creative spirit and author extraordinaire! I personally would have skipped the roller coasters (fear of heights you know), but sitting by the lake would have been a treat. Hope this week is more relaxing for you!

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