This is my little Museum of Tiny Things I Find Laying Around the School. I know the title is longer than the museum is big. It's so telling, so very middle schoolish. The Starbucks bottle was a very clever gift from a dear former student. The rest are just little treasures found in the cracks of the sidewalk, so to speak. To me they are endearing. They speak of the children that remain behind the grownup facades that our students offer with such determination.

Somebody loved the earrings that dropped that crystal. She probably bought them on a Sunday trip to the mall and wore them on a day when she felt pretty. Maybe she did her hair just so that day, to go with her new earrings. The red heart is an art project, made for Valentines Day in Art class of melted crayons. It was given as a gift of love to a teacher. Or maybe she just didn't want it. Either way it was accepted as a loving offer.

I see my museum as a dynamic, ever- changing reminder of the tender souls who sit before me each day. They seldom act with anything resembling tenderness, but the things they leave behind endear them to me, even when they frustrate me most.

What a crazy day at school. Everyone gave gifts of balloons and stuffies and candy to everyone else. They were off the wall and sweet all at once!  It was fun and not fun, but mostly pretty fun.  They were so excited! 

Every morning he asks me for a pencil, and every time he asks I pull out a brand new fresh one for him. I'm not sure why he asks because he seldom does any work in class. The other day I felt a wave of delight emanate from his seat as he stood up, looking gleefully at the ceiling. Bingo! He'd finally gotten one to stick. It was a challenge for me to remember to be kind to him at that moment. Irritation took over for a spell. I made him leave it there for a couple of days. I'm not sure why. I'm not irritated any more. In retrospect I find it kind of funny. But I may not tell him that just yet.

In downtown Chico, next to a bank and across from the city parking lot where the Saturday Farmers Market is held, is the gratitude tree. Someone hung a bucket of shipping tags from a branch, along with a pen. Random people come by and hang tags that say what they are thankful for. I love it - the idea of it, the writing of the tags and the respect that the citizens of our town have shown to this project. It's just right. I want to go hang a new tag each week!

I have recently developed a fascination for migratory birds. Their lift-offs and fly-ins, their compulsion to wedge themselves into a flooded field that seems too small to contain them, and then their loud squawking, honking, quacking rabble while they sit there. When they lift off at sunset the sound of their wings is thunderous How do they know when to take off? They go out in huge groups, but not everyone at once. How do they decide who goes when? When they fly in in the morning they look like a swarm of bees, the whole of then spiraling around and around before they land. I go out to watch then every sunrise or sunset I can, and feel like I'm missing out on the days I can't make it out there.

It was as cold as it was beautiful out there this morning.  As I'd hoped, a whole bunch of Sandhill Cranes whooped in once the sun was finally up.  They are so big and squawky and I just love watching them.  There were also geese and coots and a couple kinds (or more) of ducks. Thousands of ducks, honking and quacking and fluttering their wings.  I also heard a lot of gunshots off in the distance.  It was sad and a little scary.  I was sure my red jacket wouldn't show up in the dark!

Last year I thought (and announced) that I'd upload a photo a day, taken on my iPhone.  I did pretty well for the first few months of the year, but lost it at the end.  It seems that whenever I decide on an every day or every week action I lose it somewhere along the way.  So this year, I'm making no promises.  I'll just see you around.  Happy New Year to you!  I wish you joy, peace of mind and clarity of vision this year.

 

An outdoor celebration of creativity and joy. Undoubtedly hilariously fun to be a part of. Very fun to watch too. It was a perfect night for cabaret under the stars. Too bad about all those smokers. They definitely took ownership of the beautiful night air.

Chocolate bombe. Yum!!

Some airports have these bug wooden rockers for people waiting for flights. You kind of hang around the periphery, waiting for one to be vacated so you can snag it. Here there are wireless desks. People get one and just settle in until their flight goes, computer or no. I'd just as soon have a rocker, all things considered. .