Opening “New” Things!

Memory…

When I was young my favorite thing was a new box of crayons … I just loved opening that green and gold box of Crayolas  and viewing all of those wonderful colors… All sharpened and standing in straight rows  waiting for me to pick the first one out to use… And the new coloring book… not a page with a crayon mark on it until I touched the pages with color… I love opening that new bar of soap… smelling that fresh scent  and the feel of rubbing it in my hands for the first time… Who likes to open the “New” box of cereal first?… I do!… It’s brand new, fresh and crispy and crunchy as I pour the milk over it in a bowl and take that first bite… I love a new sheet of paper… nothing on it until I write or type those first words… making it my own… A new pencil sharpened by me for the first time… all pointy with a woody sawdust smell … I like the first bites of a candy bar… opening that wrapper  and seeing all that creamy chocolate with whatever filling lies under it… That first bite just melting in your mouth… Yum!… I like starting a new game… no points… and being the one to make the first move… I like making that first cut with the lawnmower… seeing that straight line of fresh-cut grass  as I make my way around the yard… That first brush stroke on a new project… whether it be canvas or a fresh painted wall … just waiting for me to apply my artistic talents… The first piece of fresh bread out of the wrapper… smelling so good and making a sandwich that just tastes delicious … Popping open a Coke… hearing that fizzy sound and drinking that first sip of bubbly goodness… almost burns!… A new book… not knowing what is in store… how the plot will go… turning the crisp new pages … So as you see I like “new” things…Nothing big… just that new feeling that no one has touched or used it before you… Do you feel the same way?… Just wondering… What is your favorite new thing to open? ... Let me know!

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Ragged, Thin and So Soft!

It’s probably a good thirteen-fifteen years old… tattered, deep purple in color… although faded with so many washings … Not my favorite color, but it is my favorite sleeping garment … It has a few holes… big and roomy… warm and extremely soft… I know my husband “loves” it when I put it on… but, he never says a word… I doubt that he even knows why I still wear it… I fold it up  and remember every time that it was a gift from my Momma so many years ago…a birthday present … I can’t bear to throw it out yet… It has those special memories of her wrapped up in it … I wear it when I need comfort… when I need a safe feeling… when I’m feeling blue … It seems to wrap me up as if it has arms to hold me … Someday I’ll look at it and decide it’s time to discard it… we’ll see… I might save a piece of  it to make something out of… I might just put it in a drawer  to look at every now and then… No one would want it… and I would not let anyone else see me in it except Bobby… He seems to see that I need it sometimes… without even saying a word… So, I’ll continue to wear my ragged, thin, holey, soft nightgown for now… and cherish the  I feel exuding from it…

 

 

“My Kids!”…

We had a little girl who came to our classroom a few months after school started… She was deaf and had a cochlea implant  … which was supposed to help her hear some… You see the cochlea is fully developed at birth… There are tiny delicate hair cells that communicate sound signals to the brain.. They help you hear different pitches and sounds… When these cells are damaged part or all of your hearing is lost … The implant compensates for these damaged cells … and may help the person hear … She tried to wear it but, at times it seemed to frustrate her, more than help… She was also your typical teen  … not wanting to do the things we thought were best for her… She had a special jacket that she wore to school everyday … Sometimes in need of a wash… getting a little tattered from wear…We let her wear it in class, but having school rules to abide with… she would have to remove it when she went to other classes or was in the hallway… We saw that this jacket was a source of comfort to her … She would wrap herself in it … like it kept all her problems at bay… There were times she felt her comfort came before anything… refusing to take it off… Consequences and sometimes a tug of war of wills would be raised… It’s funny how a piece of clothing can become our refuge …our peace of mind  …our safety zone …

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“Colors of Attention!”

A blog about colors…not an extraordinary topic…but, don’t we all love color of some sort? …As I read some of the blogs concerning color…it seems green and blue win out…I have to agree…I love those colors in most any shade …I believe it is because of the grass growing beneath our feet and the sky above our heads …Earth and Heaven…Other colors are then applied through our light spectrum … reds, oranges, yellows, indigos, violets…My moods depict my color choices …brights when happy…muted browns, grays and darker when kinda down…Our expression of our self usually  shows in the colors we wear…in our clothes…in our home furnishings…in the car we drive…Personality seems to play a role in there too…When I was younger…give me blue, blue and more blue…NO RED!…too much attention drawn to me …Now, I love red…Do I want more attention?…Hum, never thought about it …

“My Kids!”…

At school …kids were going through their phases…like teenagers do…so much black was worn…Black pants, black shirts,  black shoes, hair dyed “coal-black“ as they say… even black lipstick and fingernail polish …Thank goodness …our kids didn’t get into that very much…Probably because they were mentally behind in their years of age…becoming teens, but more like 10-12 years old mentally…some much younger…Evidently wearing the color black made some teens stand out …made them feel tough…invincible …opositional…at least it seemed that’s what they wanted to portray…Dress this way… was allowed up to a certain extent…Right on the borderline it seemed at times… I wondered if the parents even knew they came to school looking like they did…or were they sneaking around doing it? …It’s hard not to let “Different” reflect in our behavior toward others  …but, when a kid is standing in front of you…looking the way he has chosen…Dressed in black from his head to his feet …you have to be quite good to appear not put off …not offended …not concerned…not reacting …The color “Red” … had better move over… the color “Black” seems to be the attention-getting color these days… Hum???

“Someone’s Favorite!”

As I come in my driveway and park…I look to see if “My” Tulips have come up…there are not many…maybe 8…but, I hear they will spread and make more each year…They are planted by our lamp pole   near the sidewalk …my little friend next door gave me the bulbs …and when someone gives you a flower for your yard  …that flower becomes a part of them to me…because I think of them as they bloom…The tulips will be bright yellow, red and a few pink  if I remember right…but, it’s always a surprise when they bloom…and beside the tulips is my Morning Glory…The Tulips only last a short while, while the Morning Glory starts to grow and twine up the pole and finally blooms… they stay almost until frost …They are my favorite flower…The color I like best is blue ….but, I also have a bright fuscia pink …and now since they have germinated …I have some that are blue with bright pink centers and some that are pink with blue centers…all are very beautiful!…I have bright orange Lillies  and deep purple miniature Iris from my sister-in-law…A red Rose and white and yellow Daffodils from my Mom…light purple Sweet Peas  and velvety Lambs Ear  from another neighbor that I hope to see coming up…and my little neighbor next door also gave me a few Iris and I saw them peeking out too…A white Columbine from my niece growing on the back fence …”Magic Lillies“ from my sister that just pop up unexpectedly over night…and grow straight as an arrow with pretty pink flowers on the very top…so as you see “My Flowers” as I call them are really like friends that come and visit me in the Spring…some last (visit) a few days, some visit for a couple of weeks and some visit for the whole summer…

“MY KIDS!”…

I sometimes have thought of our students/children as flowers …Some are bright and colorful …so full of energy…some are pale in color and fragile…some are like “My”Morning Glory…just keep on twining (growing) and it seems they will never reach their level of potential (bloom)…but, then they do…and you just love it! …Some are quick to learn (grow)…and others it takes much longer…they have to take their time poking their little heads above that warm earth…but, as they do you keep watching and hoping they will finally burst through …what a sight to see when they do!…of course there are those that you just have to keep fertilizing  ( try new tactics ) , you water  them with kind encouraging words, you give them the warmth of a sunny spot ( a friendly classroom ) and if they don’t quite grow like you want…and know they have tried with all their might…you love them anyway…you know if possible they would be the most beautiful flower in the garden…or at least someone’s “favorite”…

Color Me “Blue”

When I was a little girl I loved coloring books and crayons…When I went to  or to the Dime Store I headed for the coloring books  ……New crayons were just the absolute best thing in the world…and sometimes I got the “Big Box” – 64 I believe …the one with lots of different shades in it…even a crayon sharpener on the back of the box…how neat!…I just loved all the different colors…Certain colors were boy colors and some were girl colors in my mind…in a pack of 8  …girl colors would be yellow, red and orange…boy colors were brown, black, purple, blue, and green…I really liked the color blue…I would color any girl’s hair blue, in a coloring book…why??? who knows???…I didn’t even know about old ladies having “blue hair” until I was much older…I was very particular of my precious books and crayons…I loved to have someone color with me   , but don’t dare break a crayon…I wanted them kept like brand new as long as I could …of course I would say, “that’s OK”…if someone broke one, but inside I hated it!…seems silly to some people I know, but they were special to me…like other things are special to them…one time I hid my crayons where no one could use them…sounds so selfish now…but, I was paid back for doing it…I had set them in the window sill behind the curtain   in the living room…well, it was hot summer  time, no air conditioning  and those windows got really hot with that sun beating down on them…when I went to get my lovely crayons to use them…they were melted   in one big lump…I almost cried…I remember showing them to my Mother  …and I’m sure she knew how I felt by the look on my face…she said, “I’ll buy you some more as soon as we get out to a store”…I loved her for that…because I knew she understood…and that has always been a great childhood memory of mine…and a lesson learned!

“MY KIDS”…

One of the items on the school supply list   was crayons   …thin ones, big ones, 8 pack, 24 pack or bigger…we didn’t care…but, we were always using them…what an invention!   …of course we used them to color pages   with…circle answers with , put a check mark with, draw with   …most of the kids had their own box, that usually got taken out of their original box and put in their pencil box…it was so much easier to get out of there…of course you always had a child that had to keep them in the original box…but, this was usually a child that kept all of his supplies neat and orderly…like I did when I was young, Ha, ha! …There were always some students that never brought any supplies to school…for them,we had a big box of assorted crayons we bought or the school supplied…after a few months with so many using them, they became broken and some crayons always got used up quicker than others…like black, yellow and red…I guess a lot of things called for the use of  those colors…so we would replenish them…one of our students loved peeling his crayons   …that meant every free second he had he was taking off the paper that covered his or our crayons…this would leave small bits of crayon wrappers     every day on the floor surrounding his desk…and we would have to have him pick them up every day…this never changed for the 5-6 years we had him…only it seems that I remember the little pieces of paper ending up in his pencil box along with the peeled crayons…What a mess!  …but, he didn’t have to pick them up off the floor after that…we did teach him something …a lesson learned!