Embarrassing Truths 27 August 2015

Posted on August 27, 2015 by Sally Gerard

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What are some embarrassing little truths about me? Most of mine are out in the open:

I sing into spoons, wisks, and brushes when I’m moved by the music playing to sing-so that would include pretty much all the music I listen to or hear: yes, in the shower too. I talk to myself, probably too much as I tend to answer myself as well. I say, “Sweet action!” when something is cool.

I love candy. Pull ‘n’ Peel Twizzlers can entertain me for hours: knot tying and lasso making. Then there are Zotz, candy sticks, Laffy Taffy, jaw breakers…DSCN0120

I love Disney movies, especially sing-along ones, and yes, I do sing along. I know all the words to most Christmas carols-multiple verses. Often when I hear random words, they remind me of a song and I can’t hold back.

All-in-all, these are not so bad. They can be annoying to others at time.

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Drip 26 August 2015

Posted on August 26, 2015 by Sally Gerard

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The drip of the coffee maker in the morning is heaven. The drip-drop of rain on the roof brings life. Leaky pipes dripping is like the buzz of flies or the whine of mosquitos. You can be a drip, or is it a dip?

Drip or drizzle the syrup on your sourdough pancakes. Drop or plop the hot fudge on your ice-cream (or just eat the hot fudge with a spoon). Drop off to sleep after a long day. Dripping sweat from a long run on a hot, misty morning.

Drop the pin into the hay rack hitch. Drooping from the long hot sun on your back. Things that drip, drop, dip, drizzle and droop.

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Strength 25 August 2015

Posted on August 25, 2015 by Sally Gerard

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I run into people everyday who inspire me, both in life and on the page. I listen to books in my pick-up as I drive the long road to work each day, and I heard the story of two young girls who’d been kidnapped and abused as they were rescued by another.

One had the fire of anger and hatred helping her to cope, but the other had retreated far inside herself to escape was happening to her. She struggled in shock to come back to the world around her. Both IMG_3705characters inspired me in small ways: one because she kept her fire so close, defiant to the end, and the other because she knew how to dig deep inside herself to that hidden safe place.

People who can survive cruelty and abuse inspire me and cause me to recognize my own selfishness, in a way, because I live a fairly safe life. They make me think about what I take for granted and about how I can be a stronger person, maybe even a person who would step in for someone in need. I like to think I’d have that kind of strength of spirit.

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Thanks Be 24 August 2015

Posted on August 24, 2015 by Sally Gerard

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I’m thankful for so many things:

For love and a roof over my head, for food on the table and beautiful poetry, for my children and for Robert’s, for the beauty that surrounds us on this Earth, for music and for prayer and for a loving God.

For strength to run and ride and hike, for friends and family, for work that I love, for stars and for life, for the bustle of big city and the peaceful of country, for yurts and tents and camping out under the twinkling lights of heaven.IMG_7426

For tractors that putt, for the smell of upturned dirt and cut grass, for blooming fields of sunflowers and mountains of cotton candy, for salted caramel peanut butter cup ice-cream and heirloom tomato salads.

For mountain bikes with comfy seats and CO2 cartridges when you get a flat, for trails that wind up mountain paths and long stretches of flat dirt roads, for the hope of a better tomorrow and for living in the moment.

IMG_3829For chocolate chip pizza and grilled zucchini with sweet corn, for a snowy day and a good book, for the chill in the air that says fall is near and the heat of the day reminding me that summer lingers for a while yet.

For big warm horses and playing in the water trough, for kittens pouncing on twigs and a handsome man in a cowboy hat, for words that won’t stop and time with a blank page.

I’m thankful for God who knows me and loves me still, who provides for me and carries my burdens, who indeed makes my crooked paths straight.

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First Day 20 August 2015

Posted on August 20, 2015 by Sally Gerard

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I think most would agree that summer is officially over when school begins again; I know my students do. As a writer, I find it much more difficult to balance my work life with my writing life once school starts. Summer was different for me this year too, as I had so many online students working summer school that it was like being full-time. One of my goals is always to have my students see that they are indeed good writers.

I normally begin the traditional school year with those typical first day things: go over the syllabus, the classroom norms, the parent homework, the pass rules…yawn. By the time they come to me in the afternoons, they’ve had this in every class. The one thing I do differently there is to give them homework for their parents. They like that. It isn’t difficult, but it is a way for me to get to know who they are through their parents’ eyes. IMG_2442

I knew I had to do all that first day stuff, but I wanted to start out writing. To be a writer, you have to write, right? But, Ms. G, we haven’t set up writer’s notebooks yet? I plunged in anyway. As my students came in and found their seats, there was a half-sheet of purple paper on each desk and two questions on the board. I didn’t even introduce myself. When the bell rang, I said, “On the piece of paper in front of you, and with whatever you brought to write with, spend five silent minutes writing on one of the questions on the board. Ready…go.” And they did. It was a sweet start to a new year, and sixty-three freshmen writers wrote.

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What do you care about? 19 August 2015

Posted on August 19, 2015 by Sally Gerard

IMG_3825I care about doing what is right and sticking up for those being treated unfairly or poorly. I have a great affinity for the underdog and big dislike for haughty-we’ve-always-done-it-this-way arrogance. I cannot stand to see people left out.

I care about doing a good job, about doing my best and trying my hardest. It doesn’t matter what it is, big or small:IMG_3810

When I cook, I want it to taste good, be good fuel, and satisfy. When I clean, I want my home to feel fresh. When I care about someone, I want them to feel like they are the most important. When I sing and play guitar, I want it to sound good and touch hearts.

IMG_3823When I ride, I want my horse to be comfortable because I groomed and saddled him well and I treated him gently and with respect. When I teach, I want to be sure I hold every student to the highest bar and that I’ve treated each one as a human being.

When I decided to love, it is forever and I work to love in all the ways I can, discovering every day who they are and encouraging them to their best. I will love them through good and bad, happy and grumpy, joy and sorrow, and if they forget who they are, I will be there to remind them.

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Things That go Bump in the Night 18 August 2015

Posted on August 18, 2015 by Sally Gerard

IMG_3794I’m afraid of things that go bump in the night. I’m afraid of my lemon merengue pie turning out soupy. I’m afraid of dark shapes appearing on the side of the road when I run, especially when they have white stripes.

I’m afraid of missing the turn onto my road because I’m so caught up in the story I’m listening to in my pick-up. I’m afraid of forgetting things I’m supposed to do. I’m afraid of losing those I love. IMG_3590

I’m afraid of spooky movies. I’m afraid of mayonnaise and Miracle Whip. I’m afraid of tornadoes. I’m afraid of not living up to expectations. I’m afraid of not having enough resources.

I’m afraid sometimes, but that doesn’t stop me from living a rich life, even I do wake up shaking sometimes in the middle of the night. I care about deeply about making each moment count, about living full and whole and abundantly. And, yeah, I don’t always succeed. But, there is always tomorrow.

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Empty 13 August 2015

Posted on August 13, 2015 by Sally Gerard

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Sometimes I feel empty, like a vessel waiting to be filled. What is it I long to be brimming with?

With goodness and light, with kindness and compassion, with strong coffee and dark chocolate.

With towering salads, edamame, merriment and supplication; with laughter and tomfoolery, gilled salmon and the brightness of the moon; with a hot fudge sundae, double the hot fudge and the shower of the Perseid’s overhead.sallys camra 011

With the love of forever and Christmas trees ablaze with colored lights; with the shimmering cheer of friends and the humble birth of Christ; with the thundering hooves of horses and the gentle purr of kittens.

With dark chocolate caramels sprinkled with sea salt and mountain vistas; with gurgling streams and ripe wheat waving in the wind; with the sweet notes of  guitar strummed and crickets filling the dark outside my window.

With the crinkling of pages turning in a good book and the flow of ink on fresh paper; with the hubbub of passing period and the zwooooop of an arriving email; with Nikes pounding down the gravel road and swishing horse tails sallys camra 276batting away flies.

With the prayers of all those who came before and all those yet to come; with peace and prosperity; with faith and daydreams; with endurance and the light at the end of the tunnel; with the rugged delicacy of creation and good conversation.

With sleepy babies and John Denver cranked up; IMG_0671with tractors pulling grain carts and bread baking warm and brown; with RC Cola on ice and campfire smoke rising; With slobbery dogs and little black dresses.

With winding trails and thunderstorms; with raging winter blizzards and the warmth of a hearth; and with all that I am and all that I am meant to be. Now, I’m stuffed!

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Small Talents 11 August 2015

Posted on August 12, 2015 by Sally Gerard

 

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I can make the best fish face and I used it to drive my sister, Cathy, nuts. For some reason, it really freaked her out.

I can ride a horse like I’m part of the horse, just not all the time. 100_3221I can make super delectable scalloped potatoes, thanks to Steve. My chokecherry jelly is hard to beat, especially on my homemade sourdough bread.

I can sing and play guitar moderately well and I AllPics 1146love to. I’m quick on my feet when it comes to writing poetry about almost anything. I didn’t say it was good poetry. I don’t give up easily…some say I’m stubborn.

I can run at a respectable pace alex's camera 8 2010 035and I stick to my running habit five days a week. These tiny talents will not rock the world, but they do make up some of who I am. They bring me joy, and community with good friends and family. They remind me that it is the little things that count and that I don’t need to get worked up about what doesn’t matter, what won’t make a difference, what won’t bring a smile or giggle to another.  What are your small talents?

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The higher you climb 11 August 2015

Posted on August 11, 2015 by Sally Gerard

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Rising at 1:15 AM, we ate our versions of high protein, slung our packs and got into the car to drive up to the trail head and see what awaited us on the culminating hike of our summer. I forgot that a head lamp might be appreciated as we hit the trail at 3 AM. It was dark. No moon up yet and a long while until even the pre-dawn light.

Although steep, the first part of the trail is well-traveled, and we talked quietly on and off without having to stop for three or four miles. The route we chose to take up Mt. Meeker follows the Sandbeach Lake trail until Hunter’s Creek. From there, it is a crap shoot. The directions we took from a website said the trail from Hunter’s Creek comes and goes and to “just look around” if you lose the trail until you see it again. MmHmm. We lost it several times and “looked around” with Elaine’s head lamp to “find it again.” IMG_3790

Our goal was to try to summit by 8AM because of predicted storms coming in and our aversion to being struck by lightning out on the open boulder field on the south side of the mountain…or anywhere else for that matter. After a while, we stopped “looking around” and just decided to go in the general direction of up and somewhat to the north because we knew we’d end up in Meeker Meadow. We did, somewhat wetter and colder and a bit scratched up from the bushwhacking we’d done. Our carefully planned timeline was way off as we must have wandered around much longer than we knew because we’d reached the total mileage of the

Monk's Hood is such a vibrant flower!

Monk’s Hood is such a vibrant flower!

peak, but still had the large, precipitous boulder field to go.

For me, the boulder field is the most difficult part, both up and down. I struggle with the loose rock and my vertigo if I happen to look down the steep grade. Elaine is stalwart and much more of a rock hound, so I concentrate on her heels. When we hit what we considered the top of the boulder field, we were 1,600 vertical feet short of the summit’s 13,911 feet. The black clouds coming over the top though, reminded us of our promise not to die. I took a deep breath and started down. God was with us.

The hike back down was shorter; we found that darn trail by deciding that if we stayed by

A well-deserved Salted Nut Roll!

A well-deserved Salted Nut Roll!

the water, we’d have to run into it. We did. our total distance was actually more than the hike up the mountain and back should have been. It was an incredible day and the foot weary hikers consider it one of their triumphs. Where else can you find such a view and in such good company… not to mention the Salted Nut Roll.

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