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lovedreamcelebrate

~ Reflecting on life's celebrations…

lovedreamcelebrate

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Twas the Night Before Golfing (part 2 of 3)

05 Friday Aug 2011

Posted by lovedreamcelebrate in Uncategorized

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Tags

celebrating with poetry, friendship, golf poem, silly poetry, summer

This was a poem written to celebrate a summer spent with friends on a golf course.

Twas the night before golfing,

And all through the town,

The Travis Team was preparing

For their first golfing round.

They pulled out their bags,

Some even had carts.

And they filled them with things…

Those official golf parts.

The irons and the woods,

A ball and a tee,

The idea of golfing

Gave them such glee.

Eager to sleep,

They crawled into their beds,

And visions of tee-offs,

Fogged up their heads.

And then the next day,

They awoke from their sleep,

And scheduled their hours.

A 5 o’clock tee-off to keep.

Away to th Birch Hills,

They flew like a flash.

Their arrival that day,

Was less than a smash.

The golf course was busy,

The team made it worse.

They cheered and they shouted,

Some old golfers did curse.

And when Travis teed off,

Those old golfers, it’s said,

Watched the hooks and the slices,

Then exclaimed…”Wish we were dead”.

But the team would not cry,

They would never give up.

Someone was bound,

To get that ball in the cup.

So good ole Judy got up,

At the crack of the day,

To call for a tee-time,

It was always that way.

The team came back every week,

Few ever did roam,

This golf course was starting,

To feel just like home.

When what to their wondering

Eyes did appear,

But Marshall in hs cart,

And his rule book in gear.

He said, “You broke this rule and that rule,

And that rule and this”.

How you’re playing this game,

Is really amiss”.

The team was quite shocked,

And a little offende.

So, to talk to Mike,

Judy was sended.

The team they were worried,

Would be golfing no more,

But Mike, he saved them.

He’s done that before.

Then it’s said that their game,

It really improved.

Maybe all of that fuss,

Got their swings in the groove.

Well, Marshall he visited,

Each time the gals played,

And honked when he left,

At the end of his days.

And except for the time,

Mike made Jude read the door,

They didn’t have problems,

Too much anymore.

Then the summer it ended,

No weekly golf for awhile,

But the team would remember,

Those days with a smile.

Some people treat life,

Like old golfers, I fear,

Instead of giggles and cheering,

They meet life with a sneer.

But teachers know better,

Than anyone will,

You need laughs and encouragement,

To improve a skill.

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Using Poetry to Personalize Your Celebration (part 1of 3)

04 Thursday Aug 2011

Posted by lovedreamcelebrate in Celebrations, Personal Memories, Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

celebrations, friendship, golf, memories, summer

It was June and my teaching buddies and I were looking forward to vacation but lamenting the fact that we never seemed to do a good job of getting together over the summer. Someone suggested that we schedule a round of golf every week and whoever was in town could just show up. The idea met with unanimous approval which was pretty amazing considering there were ten people voting and only a couple of us had ever actually held a golf club.

We decided we would find a small, local golf course and we would play late in the afternoon so our amateur skills would offend as few people, as possible. Birch Hills Golf Course, a small executive course near the school, turned out to be our summer playground for golfing and we became acquainted with Mike, the golf pro, on our first visit. Judy had called ahead to set a tee-time and explain our situation before the first time we actually played a round of golf.

At first, Mike was the consummate professional explaining exactly what the club offered in classes, equipment, and support. However, it didn’t take him long to realize this group of golfers was more interested in the color of their tees and who would drive the golf cart than in signing up for classes to improve their putting.

The rules, for the course, were painted on a wooden sign that hung on the outside of the door to the pro shop and were quite obvious. Teachers are basically  “compliant children” so Mike didn’t need to worry too much about us breaking the rules. We did sometimes giggle a little too loud, allow ourselves an inordinate amount of do-overs, or stop too many times to take photos. Our golf game might have been a bit unorthodox and we might have bent a few rules but we never broke any rules that could result in anyone getting hurt and we were never disrespectful of the more skilled serious players. The Marshall, who drove around in his little cart watching for infractions, disliked the fact that we would sometimes bunch together and make a six-some. He would always drive up to the group and exclaim…”Ladies, the rules state that you golf in groups of 4.”  He must have complained, back at the pro shop, because once Mike made Judy walk outside and reread the rules posted on the door. But before the end of the summer Marshall had become our “best friend” and would purposely go out of his way to stop by and say hi whenever his shift was ending just as we arrived.

As the dog days of summer drew to a close, we faced the beginning of a new school year and the ending of those regularly scheduled golf games. Our weekly tee-offs had provided us with fun, friendship and a modicum of exercise. No one wanted to see them come to an end. We decided to stretch out our time together and end our summer routine with our own personally created Sports Award Banquet. We chose categories of awards  where we would recognize each other for the unique strengths we each brought to the game or the growth that we all demonstrated. It would be the culminating activity after a summer of fun and new learning. We made reservations at a local restaurant, invited Mike to join us, and set out to create voting ballots for those awards.

I wanted to add my own special touch to the evening so I decided to create a poem that retold our golfing story. It was never my intention to write a “literary work of distinctive style and rhythm.” Instead, I wanted to remind the group of the adventures we had shared on the golf course and I wanted to make them laugh. My lack of poetry writing skills would insure my poem was never mistaken for high-level prose and setting it to the rhythm and rhyme of a well-known Christmas poem would guarantee its silliness. (There is something intrinsically funny about rewriting a well-known poem using totally unrelated words.)

Tomorrow I will post my poem…Twas The Night Before Golfing. Thank you Clement Clarke Moore.

The Photo In My Header

30 Saturday Jul 2011

Posted by lovedreamcelebrate in Uncategorized

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family, Hotel Claremont, inspirations, memories, nightclubs in the 1940s, parents, traditions

Nightclubs like the Hollywood Palladium, The Cocoanut Grove, and The Copacoabana were a huge part of night life in the 1940s.  Even most large hotels had restaurants with their own orchestras. Camera girls meandered through the crowds as the guests danced and dined. These photographs were then available for purchase and would be delivered to your table, in a souvenir folder.

This photograph, of my parents, was taken at the Hotel Claremont in Berkeley, California, in 1949.

My parents really are the inspiration for my blog.  It was their devotion to each other and their commitment to living life to its fullest that prompted the creation of their traditions of celebration. Those celebrations enriched my life, as a child, and have continued to influence me and the design of my own celebrations of life, as an adult. My story begins with them.

“All the Days Get Here Fast”

22 Friday Jul 2011

Posted by lovedreamcelebrate in Uncategorized

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adults and time, children and time, classroom story, shy student, time, time flies

The Fourth of July has come and gone and you know what that means. It’s only a matter of days before fall is here. Maybe not officially but before we know it we will be greeted by jack o’ lanterns and black cats as we duck into the stores to escape the summer heat. Every year, as we transition from one holiday to the next, I experience the same feeling. Let’s not hurry life along. It goes fast enough, as it is.

I can remember thinking, as a child, the days moved at a snail’s pace. “Don’t wish your days away,” my mother would warn me as I was lamenting the length of time until my birthday, Christmas, or some other special event. As I got older, and I began to wish I had more time in the day or in the week, to finish whatever project was occupying my mind, I made the assumption that children felt life passed at a much slower pace than most adults do. About 5 years ago, something happened in my third grade classroom, that made me question that assumption.

One of the predictable routines, in an elementary classroom, is the attention given to the calendar. Each morning, I would review the current month, day and year. The concepts of yesterday and tomorrow can be challenging for young children, to say nothing of the idea of months and seasons. To make the concepts more real for them, I would ask them to share something they could remember doing during the previous month as well as something that they were looking forward to for the upcoming month. In addition, I asked for their general reactions to the calendar and images they saw around the current month. One of my shy students was surprisingly anxious to share his thoughts. With much sincerity, he exclaimed, “Mrs. T …all the days get here fast.” There was an immediate reaction of agreement from the rest of the class. His statement was really unexpected and took me by surprise. I was even more surprised when similar feelings were expressed, by other students, in the years that followed.

My conclusion that modern children view life’s speed differently than I did, at their age, isn’t exactly scientifically sound. Perhaps some child had expressed that sentiment before and I hadn’t remembered. Maybe some children always felt that way  but were just hesitant to express it. Possibly, the discussions they heard at home included the topic of time and the students were just parroting their parents’ views. Or maybe…their days do all get here fast… maybe the life of the young child has changed enough, in the last decade, so that their perception of time, has changed.

I’d value your thoughts.

A partial image of a kindergarten calendar wall

There’s a New Blogger in the Classoom

13 Wednesday Jul 2011

Posted by lovedreamcelebrate in Reflections of a Beginning Blogger, Uncategorized

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learning to take risks, new blogger, writing a blog

I’m not much of a risk taker. In fact, there is a magnet on my refrigerator to gently remind me that taking risks can be a good thing. It says…”do one thing every day that scares you” Thank you, Eleanor Roosevelt, for the inspiration.

I love to write so when a friend suggested that I start a blog, the first place I went was right to my computer. But it wasn’t to start typing. I needed to check out other people’s blogs, first. (A single quote – no matter how motivating – can’t change a person overnight.) I loved what I found! But, what I loved even more, was being energized by all of the talent that surrounded me. Then it suddenly occured to me that I’d had this feeling before. It was years ago, sitting in an elementary school classroom, as a mid-year enrollee.

There I was, sitting in that third grade classroom, surrounded by students who were already familiar with the rules, the routines, and the procedures. I was still trying to get my bearings when everyone else was immersed in the work at hand. I learned about my classmates, even before I interacted with them, just by observing.

The similiarities between those classmates, of years ago, and the writers whose blogs I was now reading were undeniable, for me. There are  bloggers who post about their personal struggles. They write about dissolved relationships and broken dreams. In doing so, they give encouragement and hope to others and they most likely help with their own healing. They remind me of those students who were at ease discussing just about everything. They talked about arguments with their siblings, and their perceived unfairness of their parents. I could never be quite that open with my peers. Too risky. But I admired the kids who did it. They were always well liked…others were so drawn to them…they were like comforters. I sincerely admire the bloggers who have the courage to do it now.

Those writers whose blogs are dedicated to their specific area of expertise brought back strong visions of the athletic types in grammar school. I was never very athletic. Too dangerous! Tetherball was definitely a big deal, at recess, when I was young. I remember one girl, in particular, played amazing tetherball. She could whip her hips and swing that ball, around the pole, putting the ball well beyond anyone’s reach. She held her audience captive. I would have loved to play tetherbal like her but I didn’t want to chance a bloody nose.

Even “Freshly Pressed” brings back images of classroom bulletin boards where teachers put up the best work. I always hoped I would have a paper stapled to the board. But I never wanted Mrs. Sokol to put it right in the midde of the board, put too big of a star on it, or (heaven forbid) ask me to read it aloud to the rest of the class. Way scary!

I understand that Word Press even gives you the option of blocking unkind, unproductive comments. Kind of like that staunch  playground supervisor of years ago. That’s a good thing. Nobody likes a bully.

I’m sure I’m not the newest kid is class anymore. And although I only seem to be able to manage a post once a week, I’m learning.  And it’s not too risky. I’m surrounded by people who write about things that make me laugh, make me cry, bring back memories, and make me want to be a better writer…maybe even a better person. They make supportive, interesting comments on my posts and they are quick to reply back to my comments. Earlier this week, when I was in a bit of a slump and feeling pushed to write more but not knowing how I could accomplish that, a comforting thing happened. Coming East was feeling a slump after taking a little break, from writing, to be with loved ones. Word Nymph was struggling with writer’s block. I love their blogs and if they experience those feelings, from time to time, then I guess I am in the right place. I am in a learning environment, similar to a nurturing classroom, where people support each other just by being there and being honest. It makes me want to keep trying and focus on what I can do and not on the risks of failure. Eleanor Roosevelt would be proud.

Just Hand Over the Dishes and Nobody Gets Hurt

01 Friday Jul 2011

Posted by lovedreamcelebrate in Uncategorized

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Tags

celebrate, Fourth of July, holidays, humor, just blogging, silly collections, silly obsessions, table decorations

I need a Twelve-Step Program for my addiction to dishes. Yes, you read it correctly. I am obsessed with dishes. Not the commemorative type that people buy to remember special occasions or unique places. I can’t seem to own enough dinner plates, salad bowls, 16-piece dinnerware sets.

As my generation was growing up, it was readily accepted that blame for everything unpleasant about yourself be placed on your parents.  As I see it, my mother really is to blame for my out-of-control dish fetish.

We were a little family, just the three of us, but that never stopped my mother from making a big deal about meals. Every night we ate dinner on an artfully set table complete with candles. She owned just one set of everyday dishes but she mixed and matched those basically white dishes with solid black bowls and salad plates, different placemats, and candles. Our table looked remarkably different, each night, even though it was set with essentially the same dinnerware.  

 My father was no help.  Delighting in the dinner atmosphere that she created, he did irrational things to support her. One day, he sanded and painted three inexpensive, wooden, salt and pepper shakers so she would have some additional touches of color on the table.  As you can see, I was doomed from the very beginning.

When you’re a teenager, you don’t really want to be like your parents but I recognized, early on, that I’d be wise to emulate many of my mom’s personal traits.  She loved to spend time with friends, had a definite sense of style, and a genuine ease with entertaining. I never seemed to develop her sense of table style or her genuine ease at entertaining. But I loved my friends and somewhere along the way, I must have decided that I could make up for what I was lacking, in the hostess department, with a substantial collection of dishes. I bet even Perle Mesta, the hostess with the mostess, didn’t own as many dishes as I do.

So, my journey down this road of dish acquisition began. To my first, simple set of white, everyday dishes, I added sets that matched the accent colors in my apartment. From there, I moved to thematic dishes…after all, what says yummy breakfast better than a chicken running across your plate? Eventually, holiday dishes joined the collection. Christmas dishes had become quite popular and were easy to find. I’ll probably have a harder time finding Ground Hog’s Day dishes.

Meanwhile, my friends think I’m crazy. Luckily, they haven’t tried a group intervention. My friend, Judy relentlessly asks me when she will be receiving an invitation for dinner. “Roger and I are so looking forward to coming to dinner,” she’ll exclaim, “we can’t wait to eat from lobster dishes and use those matching lobster crackers.”  I know she’s just taunting me.  And she doesn’t have a clue how long I searched for a set of lobster dishes that coordinated with those red metal lobster pinchers.  Nobody really understands.

 As we head toward Independence Day, I thought it might be appropriate, for a blog on celebrations, to feature a picture of a festively set table highlighting my Fourth of July dishes. Aren’t they just the cutest… with their little pointed stars and subtle red stripes? I’ll be enjoying them for the entire month. Then, I’ll pack them away knowing I won’t see them again for another year. The only thing that will keep me from shedding tears is the fact that the black dishes with the pumpkins will be out in just 92 more days.

Happy 4th of July!

 

Will You Stand By My Side?

14 Tuesday Jun 2011

Posted by lovedreamcelebrate in Celebrations, Personal Memories, Uncategorized

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

bridesmaid party, celebrations, personal memories, will you be my bridesmaid

I was ready to pop the question. A little luncheon had been planned in honor of this special occasion. The house was clean, the table set, and a few appropriate words had been rehearsed. I was a little nervous but I was ready.

But what I was about to propose wasn’t marriage. I had invited Alexandra, my fifteen year old niece, and her mom, to lunch where I was going to ask her to be the one and only bridesmaid in my upcoming wedding.

I think it is a magical factor of human nature that we are capable of knowing we will love someone or something before they actually become a tangible part of our lives. But it is an experience most of us have had. I knew that I would love Alex even before she was born. I was enchanted holding her for the first time.

Even though I knew that I would love her, I could not possibly have known all the wonderful memories that we would build together. I could not have possibly imagined all of the joy that she would bring to my life. I could not have envisioned all of the giggles and the hugs that we would share over the next decade and a half.

So, I wanted this luncheon to be more than an opportunity to anticipate and prepare for my special day. I wanted it to be an opportunity to celebrate the unique bond that she and I had developed.

The luncheon table had been decorated in browns and pinks to match a bridesmaid tote that I had bought for her. Pictures, chosen from different stages of her life, served as our centerpiece. A banner, asking the big question, hung across the doorway. While she knew she was coming to lunch, I don’t think that she suspected my ulterior motive.

It was fun to see the surprise in her face.  

And even more fun to spend the next six months shopping and dreaming and building even more memories, together.

And when the big day finally arrived, that sweet, beautifully radiant child, who had been so close to my heart, for so many years, was there ready and willing to stand by my side. It was one of the happiest days of my life.

                   Happy 18th Birthday! (June 14, 2011)        I love you.

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