Craving September 12th.

     It's been 20 years since the world changed.  Or should I say the world stood still.

    I lived in The Salt Lake Valley in Utah on that day, September 11, 2001.  I can remember most of that morning, as we first were confused by a "small plane" hitting the first tower, and then utterly shocked when a second plane hit the other tower.  We knew we were under attack.  Two more planes went down that day, one into The Pentagon, the other into the countryside in Pennsylvania.  

    Where I lived was on the flight path for the Salt Lake International Airport and the next few weeks were so eerie, as plane traffic halted.  It was weird.  We, as Americans, were in shock.  We didn't know how anybody could hate us so much as to attack us in such a horrific way.  

    As I reflect on that time, I am always reminded how such a tragedy united us.  There were no colors, no religions, no divisions, we were Americans and we came together.  We were proud to fly the flag and we changed.  We looked out for our neighbor a bit more and we related to each other. This is something I miss now.  I miss the America we were on September 12th.  I miss patriotism.  I feel like we have lost what it truly means to be American and proud, because how dare you be proud of being part of something so privileged.  Truth be told, I am proud and I am not ashamed.  How wonderful to live in a place where I get to chose my destiny and I also have a voice.  

    Now, we have lost quite a bit of our pride and we are very divided.  My biggest hope and prayer today is that we somehow find a way to look past our divisions.  That we can see eye to eye on the basics and can be like the America we were twenty years ago.  It will take work, but it is necessary to keep our republic going.  Do not be quiet and let your freedoms be taken away, because I feel those wonderful freedoms this great country was founded on are fragile and many of those freedoms are slowly being taken from us.  

    Today I am proud to wear my gear from a great company: Nine-Twelve United.  Check them out HERE.

    My shirt is this one:

Ready or Not...(A bonus post)

    Well, we blinked and it was August.  Here we are again, just a week and a half until school starts.  Summer is waning.  Today is officially my last day of summer break.     

     I have done this a few times.  This is the beginning of my 20th year of teaching.  That is a miracle in and of itself, but much of the miracle is that I am going to be going back after the rollercoaster of a year we had last school year.  A few of my fellow teachers at my school aren't.  Many in this profession have chosen to walk away.  

    I feel it.  I understand all the reasons one would leave these days.  We are different; the kids are different.  Our capability to deal with stress is weakened.  Our sense of care is dwindling.  And the saddest part about this all is that we had a summer, it was quick, even too quick to mend the exhaustion of last year, yet most of us trudge back.  

    Granted, I am almost 20 years into my retirement and that has a big play in all of this, yet it isn't the only reason I am going back.  I still care about these kids.  I still am motivated by helping them see potential and their own ability.  I still have hope that we will get through this never-ending, fear packed pandemic.  I still feel like teens need me.  They need my strength and my patience.  They need to hear my voice cheering for them and quieting their self-doubt.  They need to hear that fear isn't the answer and that we get to choose to be happy here and now.  They need hope.  They need to see a demonstration of perseverance and survival.  

    So, I will set my alarm tonight.  I will sit through hours of meetings that usually make me sleepy and I will look for the glimmers of usefulness.  I will focus the next week and a half on getting into the mindset of teacher.  I will wait for them to again walk the halls.  Souls on the brink of adulthood and seeking direction and inspiration.  I will go.  I will fake it until I make it. I will be there.  Here's to the 2021-2022 school year.  Here's to hope. Here's to perseverance. 

Write a Postcard, Create a Smile

     I left a Nebraska postcard on my Aunt’s kitchen table today in Green Bay, WI. I’m not sure when I bought it, but I love to write postcard notes and I always have one handy. It’s one of my things. 

     I have a collection of postcards that I keep in a bin in my office. It makes it easy to send a quick note to somebody for a variety of purposes. Postcards are very handy here are five reasons why:

• 1. Postcards are small. There is a very small time commitment to writing one. You must be concise, and don’t need to get all personal and stuff. They are perfect for thank yous. 

• 2. Postcards are cheap to send. The going rate to send a regular letter is currently 55 cents. To send a postcard, only 34 cents: instant money saver. (You could buy a fancy hotdog with the money you save? Ask a politician for fact checks on that.)

• 3. Postcards have cool pictures on them. (See some examples at end of post!). You can send one from a tourist trap or from your hometown and they are still fun to receive.  I guarantee!

• 4.  People have to work to respond to you. You can find out real quick who your real friends are because you can’t fit a return address on a postcard. Your recipient will have to do a little bit of committed work to thank you for your thank you postcard!

• 5. They are fun. You smile your recipient smiles. It truly is a win-win situation! 

     I really haven’t found many cons to postcard writing. Well, maybe one thing, it can cost more for the actual postcard than the postage to send it. I bet you can afford 50 cents though?

     As always, if you would like a postcard from me, feel free to contact me via comments or social media. You never know what you’re gonna get!

Hot, Cruel Summer.

 Writing Wednesday is a place for me to write whatever I want to write.   

    The following is a piece I wrote in my summer writing class last summer.  It kind of goes along with my post from last week as it was also inspired by summer warmth.  As I am typing this, it is about 93 degrees and I have braved the outside warmth a few times today, each time coming into my air conditioned house being grateful for central air.  Yes, I am a spoiled brat.  Enjoy a little piece from the past:

    The girl from Wisconsin isn't made for the heat.  You know, the blazing, I'd rather just jump out of my skin into a pool filled with icy pops and ice cubes kind of heat.  The pops would be so much more tasty but the cubes would offer a bit more wetness with its cold.  And it is always nice to have a grape ice pop on hand when the taste and heat inspires.

    Now, a pool filled with ice cream would be cold, I'll give you that, but it wouldn't be as pleasant.  Being creamed doesn't feel like it would be my life choice.  Now, chilled, yes a lifegoal, sticky and creamy, not so much.

    An ice cold drink is my also help with feeling too hot, but through a straw is best way for an iced drink, in my opinion.  I'm against the too cold embrace of my upper lips on ice as the liquid battles for space into my mouth.  And my drink of choice is definitely going to be the carbonated goodness of soda.

    Now, there's another thing to battle.  Is it soda or pop? I've seen maps showing which states use which label.  I think it is about 50/50.  I used to care about "right" answers but I now find diversity or variety the right answer, although I may be less bugged by soda.

    I think my favorite solution is the way my high school friend's dad would offer me a "soda-pop," with a tiny emphasis on the POP, on warm summer days.  It was endearing the way he would push the sugar filled drinks on us teens.  He was like a cute 60s hair slicked back kind of a drug dealer.

    Now, the only soda term from that map that I do not stand for is Coke. When they say "want a coke?" in the south it doesn't necessarily mean a red can with swirly Coca-Cola embedded on the side.  Nope.  It is like asking: "Want a soda, or want a pop?," but bringing back some milk.  Maybe I prefer Pepsi.  Will I end up eternally thirsty because I didn't want a Coke?

    So, in crazy places where they ask you if you want a Coke, is there a follow up question?  Like "what kind?" Or is it just a lottery style, you get what they give you, or what they have in their fridge?  At least when you say want a soda(or pop)? you know there will definitely be a follow up, usually offering what the options are in the fridge.

    Maybe people in Cokeland only like Coke.  Or maybe they have seen all the cute polar bear advertising and have assumed that Coke just makes everything better and therefore is the only answer.

    Maybe I am not just hot right now, but maybe I am also very thirsty.  I guess those often go hand in hand.

    I don't care what you call it, just get me a drink already.  And make it cold, like my heart, but not as cold as ice.  Please and thank you.

What Does the Heat Make You Thirsty For?

       Thirsty-Thursdays are a place to talk all things thirst. Thirst can be actual, physical thirst and direct us to the subject of tasty drinks, but it can also drive us toward a mental thirst, the thirst for information.

It is going to be hot, hot, scorching hot the next few days here in Utah.  It's the beginning of June, and seriously 90s?  I know, I am very much a wimp when it comes to heat.  I think it is the thick Wisconsin skin.  I can handle negative temps, but get close to 100 and I die, or at least melt. 

    It was also a little toasty nine years ago at my wedding reception.

Reuben and I at our Utah reception

    Just like the heat, I am also not a fan of the typical Utah wedding tradition of a reception line.  This basically is where the groom and bride, their parents, and anybody else in the wedding party line up and people come through the line and greet the wedding party people.  I have walked through many of these lines, and they can be so long and plainly a little boring.  You usually only know one person and that is the bride or groom.  You awkwardly(at least if your me) talk to everybody in said line, but really, you are there to talk to that one person you actually know, for two minutes.  Anyway, I digress.  Not my favorite, but it is tradition and you do things because of tradition sometimes.  

    Anyway.  It was also hard to be the bride in a reception line.  There were many people who I did not know but they were genuinely happy for Reuben and I.  Don't get me wrong, I am very glad they came to celebrate us, but it did make for a long day.  But, there was one special thing that happened at that reception, Diet Coke.  See those cups in our hands?  I have always been a fan of soda and it fit well with our baseball themed wedding.  A friend of mine kept coming to me with a new cup every 20-30 minutes the whole hour and a half we stood in that hot line, and it was a godsend.  It made bearable the roasting necessity that was that line. Refreshing, revitalizing and restoring bubbles got me through that line.

Me and my Dad at the Wisconsin reception

    Now, we didn't have a line at our Wisconsin wedding.  (We did have a softball game though!) But it was July in muggy Wisconsin(as you can see by my hygrometer hair), so a thirst quencher was also needed to survive all the fun.  This time it wasn't Diet Coke, but 1919 Root beer*.  It is my favorite draft root beer and it is found in many Wisconsin bars and restaurants.  I think it is a big part of my childhood and has carried into my adulthood because of my non-alcoholic drinking ways. See, in places where they make good beer, they also make amazing root beer.  My mom specially ordered a half of barrel of 1919 for the occasion and it truly was one of the highlights.  

    Now, as it is getting warmer, water is probably best.  We all know it, but there is just something about having something a little more delicious to sip out of an ice-cold sweating glass.  Comment with the drinks you love to enjoy in the heat.  Maybe you will inspire somebody across the internet waves to try something different.  Also, feel free to share your memories attached to your special drinks.  I want this space to be one that can connect us all to one another.  So, here is me begging for comments...beg, beg, beg, grovel, grovel.

*Stay tuned to the next Thirsty Thursday to learn all about 1919 Draft Root Beer!