A to Z Theme Reveal 2018 “Attitudes and Gratitudes”

Posted on March 19, 2018 by hdh

Theme Reveal: Attitudes and Gratitudes

Are you a raving ranter or an optimistic orator? Do find yourself complaining about anything and everything or always in good spirits and see the positive aspects of everything?  Meet Otto and Herman. Now granted there are those that can see both the negative and positive sides of things, so they don’t fall into either category of person 100% of the time, but such is not the case with Otto and Herman. They are the extremes. Over the next few weeks, I will be allowing them both to speak on a number of different topics. Sometimes they will both react to the same issue and other times they will each have separate issues that they want to pontificate or espouse about. Feel free at any time to add your own opinions to the conversations.

And now without further ado, I give you Otto and Herman:

My name is Otto. I am a meticulous person. Everything has to be in a certain order. Everything must be in its place. People ask me time and time again for my opinions on things. How do I feel about going on trips? Or what are my views on issues of the day, technology, homework, doctors, and the like?  I never hesitate to give my opinions. I’m called a pessimist by some, and critical person by others. They’re all wrong. They say everything is so bright and happy. Hogwash! This world is going to heck in a handbasket. They may think that I’m negative all of the time. Bah Humbug! I’m just a realist. Wake up and smell the roses, those that haven’t wilted or been poisoned by pollution. If you don’t want my opinion…Don’t ask. Actually, it doesn’t matter whether you ask or not, you’re going to get it.

 

Hi, I’m called Herman. Why, because that is what I like to be called, and that’s my name. Isn’t it great? Not the name, just being alive in this wonderful world. I love it. There is not a thing in this world that I’m not encouraged by. All you Debbie Downers keep trying to pull me down with your rants and raves about things. But my position is, you get what you believe in and what you make of it. Just ask me. You give me a topic to talk about, and I will gladly express all the positive aspects of it. Where you see white and black, I see all the colors of the rainbow. Are there things in this world that don’t work? Are there things that are bad and will never amount to anything but disaster and destruction? Maybe you are just looking at them through the wrong set of glasses. What if you could make a change for the better? Why accept the things as they are; focus on not only fixing them but making them better. Make a difference.  That’s the way I think. A rose may have lots of thorns that stick you, but on top of them all is a beautiful rose.

Posted in A to Z Blog Challenge 2018 | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

Ode to Night

Posted on March 10, 2018 by hdh

Ode to Night

Night begins to fall and you listen to the daytime sounds disappear.

No more bird calls. No more animals scurrying about.

The wind still there, whispering to the trees, “It is time to sleep.”

Grass, so green, lays itself down to await the morning dew.

 

The darkening sky shares it’s bountiful colors: red, orange, purple,

And finally black.

But what’s this? There is more in this darkness.

Tiny holes break through to share their light,

Twinkling ever so slightly to remind us that they are there.

 

The sun, once so high in the sky, refuses to be left out.

Its brilliance reflected in the moon sheds another passage for the light.

 

Some nights darkness prevails, the clouds hide those shining stars.

The moon reclaims itself as new and will not bend to the sun’s will.

But those are fleeting moments, for time is not always on darkness’s side

 

And there is the everpresent light from below.

The man-made lights trying to claim this domain.

But that too can be stilled.

At the flick of a switch or by natural events that say,

“Bring on the darkness, let the light be gone.”

 

And then there is the quiet.

Time to refresh, to reflect, to dream of things to come.

The peaceful sounds of the night.

The owls call, the crickets chirp, and the wind still whispering to the trees.

 

Until dawn.

 

Posted in Original Stories, Writing | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Time to Reflect

Posted on March 8, 2018 by hdh

Time to Reflect

As I stare out the window, I see numerous birds nestled on the roof of the house next door. The trees blow gently in the wind, swaying to a rhythm that only they can hear. The sky is gray. It must be, or else these blinds would not be open. A bright day blocks the screen. Billowing clouds fill the air and they too move slowly to the sounds caused by the wind. Of course I can’t hear any of that because the window is closed. But the open blinds allow me to write, uninterrupted in thought. My spirit is mellow. I can look to my right and there are the sliding glass doors of the balcony. I take in the backyard, leaf covered ground and vacant woods beyond. A squirrel decides that it is time to exercise. How far can it leap and reach another tree without touching the ground? Another joins his quest and then one more.

Sitting in my writer’s nook I am at peace. My thoughts are plenty. My fingers touch the keyboard and those thoughts coalesce. I write. Today’s thoughts are focused on thinking. Another day they become a tale to tell. Then another and a remembrance of times past. Should snow or rain begin, those thoughts intensify. For my muse is telling me to relax, be aware and become one with my thoughts.

Today’s assignment stated we should meditate for 5 minutes before we begin our journey. I chose to write first. So now I will pause and take the time to focus on my body, my mind, and my breaths. Let’s see where it takes me:

————————————-
An eagle soars in a sky that’s blue.
Its keen eyes searching for something new.
What’s that it sees in the land below?
It’s but a thought, like falling snow.

She gathers speed to reach the spot.
Then hovers softly until she’s got,
Her chance to capture with one quick grab
Poised talons sharp, she takes a stab

The idea’s fresh and full of meat
For her to take and then to eat
Or store away until there’s need
To share that thought, so all can feed.
———
So here I sit with thoughts in mind
Of things to write and words to find
I put them down so I can share
Till my next flight into the air.

Posted in Writing | Tagged , | Leave a comment

A Body of Knowledge

Posted on February 21, 2018 by hdh

A Body of Knowledge

Body’s Report
Why don’t you ever listen to me? I try to tell you, “Don’t do that!”, “You’re too old to attempt it.”, “This is going to hurt.”, “Did you even ask anyone for advice?”

But no, not a word that I put in your thoughts do you pay attention to. It serves you right every time I tell you not to do something and you do it anyway, that you have to suffer the consequences.

Myself, I’m tired of having to patch things up for you. My God, you’re 67 years old, not a spry 20 year old; not that you were very spry back then either. Yeah, I would love to play sports and dance and do acrobatic dives off of a diving board, but I don’t, at least not of my own volition. But you keep trying. There’s a reason you get out of breath!

You wouldn’t believe the number of times I’ve had to counsel your back because you stayed bent in that same position for too long. And your knees! You know the constant complaints I get from them when you bend and stand back up again just to hear them crack. One knee operation wasn’t enough?

When someone suggests you should take some ibuprofen or tylenol, just do it! Those bumps and bruises are screaming for help and you just stand there, or should I say slump there and say, “it will go away.” or “It’s not so bad.”

You’re waiting for a complete shutdown and let me tell you that if that happens, I won’t be there to stop it.

A Rebuttal
You’re only as old as you feel and I feel great…at least for today. If you think positive thoughts you can improve your demeanor, your physical well being, and your outlook on life. Haven’t you ever tried that. It works! The more you tell yourself that you are feeling and doing well, the better you are.

You’re the one that is griping all the time. No wonder you get out of breath and creak constantly. You call it age, I call it kvetching. Grow up, get with the program. How do you know that 67 isn’t the new 20? Besides I like what I do. So I have to temper my actions a little to match my advancing years, that doesn’t mean I have to just stop.

As to a complete shutdown, should that happen, trust me you’ll be there.

Posted in Original Stories, Personal Stories, Writing | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Mindful thoughts

Posted on February 15, 2018 by hdh

Dreams are nature’s way of saying take a break. Usually it is not a break within the framework of your life, but into a world where anything can happen. Occasionally it intensifies what is going on in your life and takes you down deep troughs of frustration or up high mountains of creativity. I like to think of dreams as a place to go where I can tether myself to the creative side of me and go out and explore.

Continue reading →

Posted in Personal Stories, Writing | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Smile!

Posted on November 4, 2017 by hdh

Smile!

I’ve heard that the best medicine is a smile. When you’re feeling down, when you are hurting, when you just can’t do anything right. Just smile. Well, that’s what they say and even sing about. Remember the song written by Charlie Chaplin (lyrics by John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons): Smile / Tho’ your heart is aching / Smile / Even tho’ it’s breaking / When there are clouds in the sky / You’ll get by /If you just smile.

I know from practice, that when someone gives me a smile, it boosts my day. And there are times when I smile and can visibly see a positive reaction from other people. As a storyteller and teacher, I especially see it with kids.

Smiling and joking can ease the tension in difficult circumstances. It can be a great coping mechanism. However, there are times when it can also be inappropriate and hurtful.

Though my method of releasing tension is through humor, it’s not something you want to do at a funeral, or when someone else is feeling hurt.

Therein lies the dilemma. How do I cope with tragedy to ease my reaction for myself, while at the same time not offend the person who has experienced the tragedy? I have at times found myself swallowing the pain that I need to express, or release, in order to be empathic to others. Without the outlet to release my own sorrow or anxiety it makes it harder to cope.

You also have to be aware of the personalities you are interacting with. Where one person can get an emotional release from humor and smiles, there are others that can’t. It makes it harder if you don’t know the person and you don’t know how to react. Be yourself or control yourself?

On whole, I think that smiling, if genuine, is the best decision to make. Leave the words out, if you feel it is the right way to go. Think positive thoughts, be serious but light and just smile. Hugs and pats on the back, don’t hurt either.

Posted in Writing | Tagged , | Leave a comment

A Comedy of Errors

Posted on October 14, 2017 by hdh

It was my 3rd year of teaching. I was teaching 6th grade. I was in the final stages of my Master’s project, which was to teach my social studies curriculum using the theme, “the History of Communication.” Way back in those days we weren’t required to teach a specific curriculum, we only had the recommended guidelines from the State.

My Master’s program supervisor was coming to observe my class at the midpoint of my project to see how well it was progressing.

The day he came, my class, it was completing the culminating research done on different components of communication throughout the ages. The students were to give oral presentations on the topics that they chose. Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Personal Stories, Writing | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Dialogue – a talk with me

Posted on September 12, 2017 by hdh

Writing and Teaching: A talk with myself

As I was cleaning up one of my bookshelves at home, I uncovered an old handwritten writer’s notebook I had kept. In 1979, I participated in the Bay Area Writing Project in my school district. A number of teachers, from throughout the district, met over the summer for three weeks to learn about the writing process. In doing so, we had to do a lot of writing. One of the activities we did was to explore the use of dialogue. We were to create 2 characters (voices) and then free write a dialogue between them. I created two characters both based on myself. HDH and Self. Psychoanalysts might get a good look into my mind by reading such pieces. As I continued keeping journals throughout my teaching career, I would periodically fall back to this technique as part of my writing. It saved me a lot of money on mental health expenses.

 

Here was my first attempt at dialogue in 1979:

Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Writing | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

First Days

Posted on September 9, 2017 by hdh

As a teacher, I have a plethora of first days of school. Each one leaves an imprint that sets up the tone for a year of learning. As a reflective practitioner, I kept journals of every year that I taught. The night before each first day is spent writing about goals, fears, and expectations for the year. Not knowing what classes I was going to have always added to the fears of what I might accomplish. My goals and expectations were always high. Then the year would begin.

The first day was always a day of introductions, learning names and setting up our environment. There are a number of years in which the first day also set up the challenges I would have to face during the year.

My first day teaching was as a permanent substitute 6th-grade teacher in a school district. I started the day waking up to the radio program “Imus in the Morning”, where he jokingly announcing the time one hour ahead of the real time. Luckily I had a manual, cuckoo clock that showed the real time, so my panic lasted only a few minutes. In my first class, I announced how we could have a tough year or a great year and do great things. As I said this, I accidentally walked into a garbage can, knocking it over. “Like kicking over garbage cans,” I said, without skipping a beat. Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Writing | Tagged | Leave a comment

Whiplash!

Posted on August 8, 2017 by hdh

As a writing assignment from a writing workshop I am taking, I had to choose from a list of nonsense words, taken from the book, The Nonsense Show by Eric Carle and write something. Here’s what I wrote:

Whiplash

When my mind wanders it is amazing the nonsense that it comes up with. It also helps to have a writing assignment dedicated to nonsense. When I was teaching I was known for bringing up topics that had nothing to do with the conversation that was taking place. One teacher complained that I was giving her whiplash every time I did that. So it became a process in discussions involving me, that I would preempt these kinds of reactions, by just announcing the word “whiplash”, meaning what I’m about to say has nothing to do with the conversation at hand.

“Whiplash”

It was a dark and stormy night, there was not a cloud in the sky. I was sitting on my porch taking a walk when all of a sudden I saw a very loud noise. It was coming from behind me, so I moved forward to get a closer look. There were 4 square shapes each rolling smoothly across the icy ground toward me, getting farther and farther away. Closing my eyes I could clearly see that these beings, for that was what they must have been, could tell that I was shaking with fear, as calm as a tranquil sea. Continue reading →

Posted in Writing | Tagged , | Leave a comment