Confessions of a Grandma

It's not that nothing is going on in my life that I have nothing to be writing about. I could be writing a book about the things that are swirling around me. But it is all stuff that is swirling around me. I am here helping where I can with other people's stuff. It's the stuff of family members and friends, not for me to putting out. I am just in the eye of the storm.

My grandson has completed the sixth grade. He will be heading off to a regional middle school after the summer break. He is a pretty smart kid and he did receive a certificate of outstanding academic achievement. That should make a mother and a grandmother very proud. Instead -- kind of mixed feelings. It was, however, signed by both President Donald Trump and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. Can you think of two people less representative of a value on public education? Irony.

This post is for Terra, who asked. The Poetry Discussion Group I attend is one of the Burlington Writers' Workshops  events. It's open to anyone with interest is discussing poetry, but since space is limited and also to facilitate good discussion there is a sign up procedure and the group is limited to 12. The woman who leads the group sends out a theme to those who are signed up for the Saturday morning (10:30 to 12:30) discussion. Themes can be things like celebrations  or  sense of place, etc.  Participants select a poem by any poet that is  related to that theme in whatever way is personally meaningful. The poems are read out loud and whoever selected the piece can talk about why it was picked and others can respond with their own reactions. It's a good way to be exposed to new poets and different ways of interpreting a poem. After everyone has read, the leader gives a prompt and we spend about 20 minutes writing. At the end anyone who wants to share w...

It's hard to believe that it is already half way through the month of June. The official start of summer will be here in a week. Good thing I finished spring cleaning yesterday. There are so many things that I would like to be doing this summer and it seems as though I don't even have the time to adequately plan for anything. I have decided to volunteer at the town library here in my "new" town so I will be working on the annual book sale by sorting the donations that come in before the July 4th town extravaganza that includes the library book sale. I have my group meditation practice on Sunday nights, yoga classes on Monday and sometimes Thursdays. Poetry workshop is also on Thursday night twice a month and there is a poetry discussion group that I attend one Saturday a month. I meet with the group of women (some of whom are former work colleagues) to make cards. And there are the friends and family I meet for socializing, walking, talking and other entertainmen...

I had to go to Boston for a medical follow-up. Turns out I could have totally skipped it since all it accomplished is that "we will see" in September. I was not planning on another trip. I once read that the streets of Boston were designed by a civil engineer (he was Italian in the story I read, but let's not perpetuate ethnic stereotypes) who was pondering a city layout as he enjoyed his dinner and a glass of chianti. He was so engrossed in thinking about this project that he jumped up to spread his drafting papers on the table and managed to knock the plate of spaghetti onto the floor. As he looked down on the mess, a tangled sprawl of pasta -- voila! an inspiration was born! And if you have ever tried to navigate the streets of Boston, you could actually credit this as a true story. You can buy this stainless steel laser cut image on Etsy : I have no affiliation with the site, but other cities are available as well. It's really pretty cool.

Cooking School -- that's where I need to go for remedial instruction. I mean I seem to be a real cooking slump right now. It's not an aversion to cooking. At least I don't think it is. It may be a lack of attention. Perhaps I need to have a more meditative, mindful attitude toward meal preparation. I made a quiche yesterday and when I was putting it in the oven, I spilled the custard onto the oven door. I like a custardy quiche so uncooked it is quite liquid. Well, since the oven was preheated, the egg mixture instantly cooked onto the oven door. Today, the very next day, I wanted baked potato. For some reason I forgot to give it a good poke with a fork so when I foolishly stuck a fork in it to test doneness -- BAM! Potato explosion. What a ness!! Going out to eat tomorrow night sounds like a plan!