Merely Day By Day

I've never been a baker.  I don't mind cooking, and at times I almost enjoy it, but baking makes me want to run and hide.  I have friends and family that bake.  I always hope their talents will rub off on me.  My sister-in-law is an amazing baker.  She whips up cakes like it is her job.  She can make a cheesecake in a blink of an eye.  Need cookies?  She can bake dozens without breaking a sweat.  Everything she bakes is delicious and there isn't a recipe she can't make better. Baking for me as never been easy.  My friend, Julie, is also a baker.  She bakes cakes with the greatest of ease and makes a-maz-ing biscotti.  Julie makes baking sound effortless, but I'm not fooled.  She has listened to my fear of baking and has assured me I can bake.  She shared a few tips and has helped me to at least think I might some day be able to bake. In the last few years, I've gotten braver.  I've stopped buying ...

Dog prances at 4:30 a.m. pitter patter tap tap her feet prance on the wood floor. I try to ignore her but the pitter patter tap tap  continues.  I roll over hoping to continue to sleep. Hoping she'll settle back down,  but soon I hear the pitter patter  tap tap.    I rise  let her out. She wins,  yet again.   © Cathy L. Mere, 2017  For the sixth year, I will be joining the  Slice of Life Challenge  with the community of  Two Writing Teachers .  I will be trying to put my fingers to the keyboard every day for the 31 days of March.  Stop by  today's link up  at Two Writing Teachers to read other posts.  

Taking the dog out in the early morning, there used to be black, but now - daylight. Getting in the car to drive to school, there used to be darkness, but now - daylight. It is now possible to tell morning from night, as the world awakens, now daylight. As the day turns to afternoon; the sun shines bright, celebrate daylight! Driving home at the end of the day, impossible to believe, still daylight. Evening now brings time to walk, time to get outside, the joy of daylight. After a winter of unending darkness, my heart sings. Thank you, daylight. © Cathy L. Mere, 2017 For the sixth year, I will be joining the  Slice of Life Challenge  with the community of  Two Writing Teachers .  I will be trying to put my fingers to the keyboard every day for the 31 days of March.  Stop by  today's link up  at Two Writing Teachers to read other posts.   Save Save

This evening I sit here with a cup of coffee by my side as friends gently tap away at their keyboards or jot in their notebooks.  I'm not sure what anyone is writing right now;  I just know that everyone IS writing something.  Tonight is one of my favorite nights of the month as several teachers from around the district gather for a writing class.  Our class, "Amplify Voices:  Teachers as Writers," meets once a month.  I've come to look forward to our time together as we all wrestle with the challenges of writing.  From coming up with ideas, getting started, finding time, and discovering our voices, we listen to one another to consider new possibilities and solutions.  Our reasons for being here are varied, and each is finding her own path.  This time each month make me get my fingers to the keyboard and keeps me committed to continuing to grow as a writer. I've come to realize that in anything I do, the secret is in finding my people. ...

This year, I've moved into a new role in our district and I love it!  Though I wake up every day looking forward to the new opportunities, I do miss so many things about being in the classroom.  Sometimes I just want to pop into a classroom and share a read aloud or gather a group of students for shared reading.  When I see teachers, with their students all gathered in community conversation, a little pang of sadness tugs at my heart.  Even trying to work through the Slice of Life Challenge without my class of students beside me brings a bit of melancholy. It's hard to change the rhythms of our days.  There are times I want to just arrange supplies or gather a variety of paper for writers.  There are moments I want to grab a dry erase board to write a morning message, or put together magnetic letters for a word study lesson.  Most of all, not surprisingly, I miss the joy of sharing books every single day with a group of young readers.  I miss ...

Photo via Ann & Tony's For as long as I can remember, I've lived in a small town.  When people ask me where I live one of three things usually happens; either they've never heard of our town, they know someone from the town (and I almost always know them too) or they ask, "Is that the town with the great Italian restaurant?".  Yep, that's the one. For as long as I can remember, Ann & Tony's has been a part of our town and a part of our lives.  Most people in our town can tell a story about the restaurant, the owners, or some event celebrated at the restaurant.  My grandparents loved to eat in the restaurant.  We've gathered as a family for many meals in the restaurant, celebrated a few birthdays, and entertained a few guests by showing off the small gem of our town. Today my aunt and uncle were visiting from North Carolina.  We all met at the restaurant to catch up before they headed back home.  As usual, the restaurant was the hub of a...

How I got to today's writing. I love the poetry of Billy Collins.   I own most of his work . I own, and repeatedly listen to, the audio of his night at the Peter Norton Symphony .   Yesterday Heide Mordhorst, at My Juicy Little Universe, gathered the Poetry Friday group to join in an early celebration for his birthday (which, I believe, is March 22nd).   Even Garrison Keiller, at The Writer's Almanac, seemed to be whispering to me as he shared I Love You by Billy Collins in yesterday's podcast.   Late last night (which 7:30 for me), I went searching for my favorite poem.  It was a challenge.  Who doesn't love The Lanyard , The Trouble with Poetry , or Forgetfulness (or a million others). I couldn't escape from the one poem that always fascinates me with its mystery:   The Chairs that No One Sits In by Billy Collins.  Here are the first three stanzas from his poem which you can read and listen to at the Writer's Almanac . The Chairs...

The door opens. I step outside greeted by the sky burst - again. I don't know how many suns, how many moons, how many times, I've looked at the sky. Sunrise or sunset. Morning or night. Mid afternoon as clouds dance across the sky. Every single time, my breath catches. I stop; caught in the moment. Each sky a new masterpiece, painted hues of possibility. I don't know how many times I've marveled. I only know each sky a gift. © Cathy L. Mere, 2017 For the sixth year, I will be joining the  Slice of Life Challenge  with the community of  Two Writing Teachers .  I will be trying to put my fingers to the keyboard every day for the 31 days of March.  Stop by  today's link up  at Two Writing Teachers to read other posts.  

Maybe comfort zones aren't all they're cracked up to be I told myself as I drove to our morning meeting.  Barely a week ago I had been asked to prepare an Ignite presentation for our administrators' meeting.  At first, I hoped they'd asked the wrong person, but after some checking, I found out I was indeed one of four people who would share their Ignite in less than a week. I'd like to tell you the first thing I said was, "Sure I'll do that.  It sounds like a great challenge," but I'd be lying a bit.  I'd like to tell you my mind began to race with all of the possibilities, but that wouldn't be the truth.  I must admit my first thought was, "How do I politely dodge this one?"  Then I remembered that my word this year is STRETCH, and I reminded myself that my new position requires me to improve my thinking on my feet, to take new chances, to walk bravely into the uncomfortable, so I swallowed my NO and replaced it with a YES. ...

"Everyone lies about writing.  They lie about how easy it is or how hard it is.  The truth is, writing is this; hard and boring and occasionally great but usually not."                                                                                            -Amy Poehler, Yes Please  "I can't do this," I confided.  "I like to finish everything I start, but I'm not sure I can write every single day.  Once I start something I really want to finish it, but I have a hard time putting writing out there that I don't like.  I don't expect to love it all, but I would like to at least like it." My friend, Deb, returned, "It's not a story; it's a slice."  "Write." "Just write." "That's it; just write," Deb counter...