lunken airport

our little airport was built in the 1920s.

the clock with wings is my favorite.  on either side of these doors are the works of art below.

 it's small, but still used.  the signs go with the building.

 history. cincinnati is the "queen city of the west" because people came through here on the ohio river.  

lunken is a user-friendly airport with a 5-mile running trail around the premises.  you can learn more about it here.  of course if you fly to cincinnati, you come through our international airport in northern kentucky.  only small planes use lunken anymore.  joy to you!

downtown over the river

the trees in the center of the picture are usually on land.  ohio has had record precipitation this year, and i'm not complaining.  tomorrow it might be snow!  also it was dry enough to go outside for recess today.  hooray!  joy to you.

light

maine in the summer has lots of sunshine.  

 now it's almost winter, and we're (in ohio and the northern states) getting a lot less vitamin d.  i learned about how important it is to get "full spectrum light" from this wonderful health blog.  see what you think, and let's all spend some time in the fresh air this week.  it's raining and raining here, so we had indoor recess.  did you get outside today?

spaghetti

spaghetti.  cupcakes?  the meatballs were chocolate, and the sauce was strawberry.  delicious.  like reading the word red written in blue - a little cognitive dissonance.  cousin lynn's work of edible art.  sweet!    

columbus park of roses

  the squirrels were collecting fallen seeds, and the cardinals and chickadees ate from the feeder in the rose garden.  

 the rose bushes were brown, but still lovely.

 you can always find something new in the rose garden, and saturday i found this carved rose.  

beautiful.  

joy and blessings to you.

osu vs michigan

 five quick beautiful things:

1. i married an italian.

2.  he has a wonderful family

3. who invite us over

4. and make food from scratch.

5. and even though osu did not win, it was a close game.  besides, ohio state has won for so many years, it's only fair to let michigan win once.  

 (he is making stromboli.  he rolled the dough so the meat was inside.)  joy to you!   

10k thanksgiving morning

our traditional warm-up to the feast includes thousands of people.  

 the weather was good this year - 40 degrees and just a trace of wind.

 the colorful start of the race.  

 cincinnati has beautiful old buildings.

 the bubbles were a surprise.  you can't see from this picture how delightful it was to go through bubbles.  very childish fun!

 the race is for charities, and people shed and donate their warm sweatshirts and coats.  

 the course passes the newport, kentucky aquarium.  

 mrs. claus was in the race this year, chatting with an elf and then santa on the cell phone.  who knew they have wireless service in the north pole?

 cold and muddy ohio river.  high, too.  it's rained a lot the past few days.  

 ever since reading the great bridge, the structures fascinate me.  

this is the theme of many runners and walkers.  it's a delightful way to work up an appetite.

volunteers make the race.  this boy goes to a local high school, and he's cutting the timing chip off a shoe.  chilly work.  thank you to the volunteers!  how did you celebrate thanksgiving?  joy and blessings. 

ancestors

monday a wonderful parent came to our class.  her family directly descends from a man on the mayflower.  she told the story of how her relative fell overboard and was rescued, and how the trip took 66 days at sea.  she brought the children copies of the mayflower compact.  it was very interesting!

it also made me remember and appreciate my ancestors.  all grandparents came from ireland.  no prominent or famous ones, but hardworking, loving, and strong-willed.  today i am thankful for my family, even those of long ago.  joy to you!

blessings

it's thanksgiving, and this year i have some new friends - one in ohio, but most far away.  it is wonderful to share this corner of the web with old and new friends.  together we make the world a warmer, more joyful place.  i also send love to those who come here to visit.  thank you!  it's so nice to know others share the beauty of daily life.  here's to you!

  (you can have fun with words on word it out.) 

book review - steve mccurry

our class is studying asia.  in his book the unguarded moment, national geographic photographer steve mccurry has amazing pictures, many of asian people.  the children will enjoy learning the way people meet their needs for food, shelter, and fun.  i appreciate his art.  he makes photography look easy, like paula radcliffe makes marathon running look easy.  


for those of us working to improve our photography, phaidon has mccurry in a series of one- minute masterclass videos.  His blog is also inspiring.  i learned about him through this lovely post at the sartorialist.  enjoy!

places i'm thankful for

 

the beams are beautiful, and the view through the roof.

fall still.  

now that the leaves are down, you can really see the river.  

under the bridge

beauty under a bridge?  there it is.  somehow the light is more intense and unexpected.  

mercy watson and geronimo stilton

today as a boy was choosing an encyclopedia brown book, i thought about how valuable book series are to children.  once a child has found a series, it's a predictable enjoyment for him or her.  as a teacher, i love the repetitive vocabulary (the more times a child encounters a word, the faster he/she knows it).  also, with books they like, children read more, and when they read more lots of good things happen to their reading skills!  

here are two series for second to fourth grade children.  

 newberry-winning author kate dicamillo wrote these colorful, funny books.  second grade readers who are ready for chapter books may be able to read them, although some words are challenging.

 we have five, and they are some of the most popular classroom books.

everybody loves mercy watson!

here's another very popular series.  geronimo stilton is a shy, timid mouse who has lots of adventures.  the books have different color and sized print, so the intimidation factor is low.  also there are so many pictures, children really want to read these.  

here's geronimo!

these have a mid-third-grade reading level, so parents may need to read them aloud to younger children.

raising children who love to read is a beautiful thing.  what are your children's favorites?

fall to winter

sometimes you can see two seasons at one time.  

on saturday we ran and saw these vibrant leaves.

a little further on the trail, we came to this forested area.

 on our way back - wow.  it looked like winter.

happy thursday!  book review delayed by montessori meeting.  are you busy?

monastery

recently my parents made a very serious commitment to their faith.  it took place at a monastery with beautiful paths and places to contemplate.  i wish them joy and peace on their path.  what is peaceful today?

still life

   

it's cold and flu season here in ohio, and the children in the classroom are catching viruses.  time to eat some oranges.    how are you staying healthy?

also, as an art lover, i see many compelling visuals.  on the way home from school today, i was stuck by a group of mailboxes painted different colors.  i couldn't catch it, but maybe one day i will stop and take a quick picture.  what's beautiful where you are?  

colorful trees

fall is a beautiful season in ohio.

happy monday!  did you get outside this weekend?

ohio sunrise

at the convenience store at 6:15 a.m. in maine last sunday, i was talking to the clerk who asked me how i was.  "happy!" i answered, "i'm in maine!  i love ohio, but we don't have the beach."  "oh, is it far to the ocean?"  aah.  i was surprised.  she must not know ohio is in the heart of the usa, far from either ocean.  

but we have our own beauty.  

you just have to look for it.

joy and blessings to you!

the two towers

last year when my son wanted to read the lord of the rings, we decided to read the series together.  he began the fellowship of the ring, the first book.  i began the two towers, the second.  it was very interesting to start with the second book in a trilogy!  learning the characters on the fly, i loved the rich, full world the author created.  i got lost in the words.  tolkien (1892-1973) was an oxford scholar of old and middle english.  his text had depth and his descriptions were detailed and clear.  beautiful.  

  we're reading the series again, and enjoying it just as much.  i highly recommend starting with this book if you are a daring reader.  more information about tolkien is here.  any thoughts?  happy weekend, and may you find time for an engrossing story. 

book review delayed for recess

 it rained this morning, and looked like we would have indoor recess.  when the time came and the rain had stopped, we were happy to go out.  a plane flew by, which stopped  playing for a bit.  

 then the wind blew a little, and brown leaves fell from the trees.  that was it.  a whole crowd of children ran around trying to catch leaves as they fell.  

 at one point, the wind picked up leaves from the ground and sent them spinning.  oh!  the shouting, the running!  

it was a joyful, muddy recess.  happy thursday!