This is such great information. Reach out and be that hand of God to someone in need. That is holy collaboration!
Small, helpful ways you can support a loved one who is dealing with depression.
— Read on www.huffpost.com/entry/ways-to-support-loved-one-with-depression_n_5c17fca2e4b0432554c2ffed
So much truth in this article… believe me 💜💙
Another Christmas has come and gone. I was blessed to get to spend time with my family, especially my children and their partners. I’ve always prayed that they would both find that special someone to spend their life with, that would challenge them to reach further than ever they thought they could to reach their dreams and goals and to become all that they were meant to be, and, to do that for their partner as well. I think they are both on that road.
We shed tears together as we sat in the dark theatre watching Mary Poppins Returns, and I was especially touched at the poignant song where the little boy assures his father that their mother who died is always with them inside. I miss my children, sometimes so much that it hurts, and that song reminded me that they are never far away, not really.
As I move through my day, writing, teaching, caring for our critters and creatures, and walking the plains, they are with me just as all of those I love. And as we move toward the beginning of new year, I am reminded of all that I want to be and am meant to be and I take those tiny baby steps in that direction and hope you do as well.
Today, one of my big sisters turns 60 (Happy Birthday, Julie), and the rest of us are not far behind. Some of us are ahead. We manage to bicker about some things, celebrate some things, enjoy some of the same things, and we always cherish any amount of time we get to have together.
We’ve had to say goodbye to our littlest sister in one of the worst ways imaginable. In fact, none of us would have imagined it. Gathering in the woods, in the Colorado mountains that she loved, we said our final goodbye and let her go this weekend.
We circled up and when we do that together, we are a force of love to be reckoned with. Because in the end, we do love each other with all our hearts no matter what.
Goodbye Cathy, you were well-loved and will always be missed.
Busy. How is it that we all get so busy this time of year? We’re supposed to be preparing, anticipating, and readying ourselves for the most amazing love born in the humblest of beginnings, just like most of us.
But, there are things to do, people to see, boats to throw around (okay, that is definitely an inside joke). That one black heifer won’t leave the hose alone, can’t be trusted by the stock tank without supervision when it is filling. I watch her, but at the same time, I’m sitting with my computer by the round bales (I know, they’ve been outlawed so cattle can get a square meal) grading or writing. When I’m writing, well, my focus turns inward. Same thing when I’m grading. I have to make myself look up, and yep, here comes that long black tongue stealing under the hose and trying to wrap around it. Is it stupid cattle tricks for the late night heifer show? I don’t know.
Things to do: appreciate the blessing right in front of my face, after all, these heifers could be distant relatives of that long-ago manger, couldn’t they?
Pixabay.com
Waking up in the middle of the night, I heard the yip and bark of a coyote outside our bedroom window. Looking out, I couldn’t see him, but I know he was close. There are so many times when I feel that deep connection to the land and the natural world, and this was one of those times. He didn’t yip for long and then was off to wherever his night was going to bring him. There is joy in small things, and I’ve heard it described as “time stamps” of joy that mark us if we let them.
Christmas lights are one of the constant “time stamps” of joy in my life. I can hardly wait to put them up and I totally drag my feet taking them down. I love the sparkle and different colors and the way they remind me of who I should be, as light in this world. I love the way the tinsel shimmers in their glow on the tree and the reflection in the shiny round balls hanging on the branches.
The funny little notes I get from my students when they submit work and they aren’t sure it’s correct, or they just want me to know how hard they worked on it. Snap Chats from old students of their fuzzy little band new pups all cuddled up together for a nap. A Text message from a best friend about “The Perfect Colorado Ice Cream Road Trip.” And family gathering in all different places and configurations over the Christmas season in love and with good tidings.
Pixabay.com
We didn’t go back to our lake. I was busy, and Bob and Marcia had loaned Felago to another family, hoping I’m sure, that maybe they would not be able to live without him. I wasn’t worried, although maybe I should have been. It was hard to go so long with Felago so distant. I’d gotten used to him in my head, and even the distance to Bob and Marcia’s hadn’t been far enough to silence our voices. But wherever he was now, I couldn’t read him, and I figured that also meant that he couldn’t read me.
I wanted to make an offer, but I knew that if I approached Bob now, the price would be higher because I’d had to go without for a couple of weeks and that made it look like I needed the dragon. I think I was smart to wait, especially when I’d gone to town to sell my eggs and butter and a strange man kind of hung around. It wasn’t like I hadn’t seen strangers, I mean this was a trading village, but, there was something about him. I felt a prickle at the back of my neck and knew he was watching me.
Finding ways to covertly watch him, or so I thought, I realized I wasn’t afraid of him. His blond hair was wavy and fell to just below his ears. He was younger, maybe a little younger than my 25 years. His muscles were tight as if he were waiting for something to happen, or maybe he just wasn’t used to crowds.
To see the beginning of the story:
Inspired by some recent professional development on engaging students who school online, I’ve been thinking a lot about engagement. It is a buzz word that has stayed buzzing for a few years now in education. “How are you engaging your students?” “How are you personalizing each student’s learning?” And my favorite, “How are you fostering a Growth Mindset?”
I’m not a fan of buzz words and latest trends. I am a fan of figuring out what will get a student excited. What can I do to help them find their passion and use it in their learning? What am I doing to encourage, to excite a love of learning and discovery? Do I recognize when I am discouraging them and reach out to fix it? What am I doing that is showing my students how to take care of themselves in this world, while at the same time holding the bar high so they bring out their best game?
I’ve tried a lot of different crazy things and I don’t get a lot of feedback, but when I do, I listen. One family says they wait for my weekly email and sit around the computer to share the dumb joke I always open with. Another student said that her younger siblings love my “videos from the farm,” and: “Especially the cows, Mrs. G!” Another student designed his travel brochure assignment using my mini-hiking vacation and capturing some of the images in the video I sent after I got back.
Does it bring them all in? No, not by a long shot. But it brings some and one-at-a-time, that has to count.
I had one of those Mondays this week…everything was going well. I was busy working at my desk, where I often gaze out the window to see what’s going on in the world. I’d just let my horse go after bringing the heifers back into the pasture. I was in a live session with a student when I realized that something didn’t look right.
Apparently the heifers, in their meeting called by the let down to the corn stalks, had decided one of them would take it in the shorts with the electric wire so they could all enjoy stuffing themselves with corn for the rest of the day. I finished up with my student and headed up to remind the lovely dears that no, they could not go back out and eat themselves sick. I mean, they had no idea about Thanksgiving, did they?
Once they were back in the pasture and I’d fixed the fence, they settled down in a heap closer to the corrals. The moon has been especially bright this week, in the late night and early morning, so I could spy on them at midnight with the binoculars to be sure they hadn’t mutinied again.
And that’s why I HAD to put up the Christmas lights on the apple tree. That and the cordless drill, which is a story for another day.
Pixabay.com
The story begins here: Felago, Dragon 1, Dragon 2
Since then, we’d flown together every week and sometimes more. Felago would take me to town where I would sell my eggs and butter or trade them for whatever I needed at home. Then we’d find our way to that high mountain lake and spend the rest of the day exploring and napping. I’d give Felago his favorite treat and we’d make our way home before Bob and Marcia could wonder where we’d been.
As we made ready to take off for home, a glint caught my eye from across the lake. “What was that?”
“I saw nothing. Explain.”
“Felago, I saw something across the lake. Some shiny thing or reflection. Should we check it out?”
As we took off, he flew low over the eastern edge of the lake, but the trees were thick, and I couldn’t see anything. While his vision was much better than mine, it was also different. He saw with his eyes, but combined with the rest of his senses, he could get more of an overall impression of what he was looking toward. “Someone is there. I feel their heat. It is not animal, but human. He is not afraid, more curious. We need not worry for we’ve done nothing that would give away our secret.”
On home we went, but I couldn’t stop thinking about that human there in the woods. Felago had said “he,” and Felago would know. Had he been sent to spy on us? But no, no one knew where we went when we left town. We would have to be more careful. We would have to find out who this “he” was and what he wanted.
Thanksgiving Day is tomorrow and that means most of my students have been missing in class this week, which is too bad as it was a good opportunity to catch up because there was no new work assigned. The good part was that I had an opportunity to really connect through video, my live office, and the phone with those who were working.
During one of those phone calls with a single dad and his daughter, I was surrounded, even on the phone, by the sheer joy in their relationship. They took turns talking to me, but I could hear the other in the background laughing or offering some tidbit to share with me. I must have smiled for an hour after that call; it was such a blessing.
We talked about life in a rural area and providing our Thanksgiving meal from the land around us. We share pear trees in common and so I told them about the pear pie I was making for our meal from the harvest of our trees and I heard, in turn, about their pecan harvest…pecan pie anyone?
It reminded me that reaching out to my students in a more personal way always engages them in the class content more. I don’t know how many subjects outside the “assignment parameters” I’ve approved this week, but the results have been some really creative work showcasing the exact same skills they needed to learn, but with their culture and their choices reflected. I am thankful for my students, plagiarists and all.
 | Mary Deatherage on What My Soul Misses |
 | Kathy Cordes on What My Soul Misses |
| Kathy Cordes on The Outhouse |
 | Michael Moore on The Outhouse |
| Michael Moore on Grandpa’s House |
Sally Gerard 