A Cool Still Morning

I sat on my deck this morning with a jacket and a cup of coffee. There is a profound stillness in the air that I would like to put in my pocket and keep with me all day long. Last evening the insects were chirping their little hearts out. It was quite loud. Nature, in silence and in noise is very powerful. I want to spend a day with those sounds and try to have as few other sounds enter my ears. That would be a nice day I think. Life might get in the way of that today. I can hear cars on the road now so I will have to be content with moments of peace and just treasure them.

Take care,
MissT

I saw a beautiful thing today...

. He/she was just a few feet from the window of our classroom--yet the children were all at lunch so just the teachers got to see this magnificent creature. A large Red Tailed Hawk! He stayed for the entire length of our 20 or so minutes of lunch we take between teaching, cleaning and preparing for the afternoon class. We were so glad to have the visitor but it took a while to round up a camera to capture this wondrous bird. My cell phone would have to do. To say the least, I had a really great day at work today. Things seemed so natural and worthy of praise for both the children and for me. I got some of the biggest smiles from some of the "shy" children or the "new" children so I feel I accomplished a lot. I was working with a Sub and that does not always work well as most teachers will attest to--this was not the case at all. We worked very well together. During a break in our day we went out (the children and teachers) to enjoy the sunshine. I saw a preying manias and decided to let the creature (this time small and green) crawl on me. He/she stayed on my until I did the "Pide Piper" routine back to the classroom. I deposited the Mantas on a beautiful sunflower plant in the garden area---what a day!!!

Take Care,
MissT

A Walk on the Wild Side

Nature Walk

I just went on a wonderful walk with my camera. I had it turned on so that I could be ready to take pictures of flowers and insects. I got some amazing shots. The spider I photographed is twice the size of the one (same species) that is right outside my front door. He (or she) was a lot more skittish and active—maybe because he set up shop next to a road instead of having a nice protected area in a flower bed.

I hope you enjoy these pictures. I plan on creating some matching cards for my classroom. My thought is that I could have a close-up view of a plant or insect then have a shot of the entire plant or insect. The children could match the close up with the regular view. I know that this is not a new idea; I think it will be better since I actually took the pictures and I can tell the children that they came from my neighborhood. This could add interest for the older children that do not really like matching cards.

GO FOR A WALK IN THE COOL MORNING AIR!

Take care,
MissT