a poem

I got a yummy candy bar from a kid today. Inside the wrapper was a poem. I liked it, so I thought I would share it.

What woman can forget the arrival of her
first billet doux?
The expectant heart,
the trembling fingers,
the delight of reading young love's artless
revelations in some secret corner,
where no profane eye might see her,
and where her impassioned lover might urge
his suit,
uninterrupted by any voice unsympathetic
with that sweet time.

~J.T. Merydew

I wish I could write poetry like that...
I wish I could have a love letter to read...

Happy Earth Day!

Recycling is one of my favorite hobbies. I'm not a fanatic about it or anything, but I do enjoy putting things in the recycle box and taking it to the bin in the alley when it's overflowing with reusable goodness. On more than one occasion I have been known to fish things out of the trash can to put them in the recycle bin instead... I have a box under my desk that I put papers, cans, and other recyclables in throughout the day. My school doesn't have a recycling program, so I feel a certain responsibility to be my own program here. I have to take my recycling home to my house to actually recycle it, but it's worth it. When I look at all of the trash my school goes through on a daily basis and realize how much could be eliminated with a recycling program, it makes me a little mad. I know it costs money to implement new programs and make them successful. But I don't see why we can't partner with the city or the county and get something figured out. If I'm here teaching again next year, mark my words: I'm going to head up the recycling program. In the mean time, I'll just continue to quietly recycle under my desk and at home. Every little bit counts.
In honor of this holiday, I'm wearing my "Wise Up. Live Life Green." owl tee shirt today. I really like this shirt. The owl is quite cute, and the message makes me feel like I'm serious about making a change in the current world. I might not be the tree-huggingest of tree huggers, but I love trees... a lot (Thanks, Grandpa!). I'm not a "Boulderite" by any means. I just care about our earth. After all, the earth is the Lord's and everything that's in it. I have come to take that more seriously in my recent past. Now, I want to pass it on to my kids. We planted seeds yesterday in class. Today we're going to take some time to pick up garbage. I have some cool books to share with them, too. Yesterday we read Our Two Gardens by Mararet Hebblethwaite and Peter Kavanagh. Today we are going to read Heron Street by Ann Turner and The Tree by Dana Lyons. These kids know the value of taking care of our earth. I'm glad they are being made aware of it now. Kids are much more empassioned than many grown ups when it comes to being eco-friendly.
Do something nice for our earth today! But don't stop there... Make a "green" change today and let it carry through to every day. It's a lot easier than you think. :o)