backstage

 the pipe and drape fell before the show, so i climbed on the stage to help fix it.  here's the view. 

 the wizard of oz was child-directed and produced.  here's toto, brought from home - a perfectly amazing animal.

 lollipop kids.  i'm a teacher, and these were my students last year.  it was a joy to spend time with them, fixing hair and painting red circles on cheeks.  

 the poppies wore red with flowers in their hair.  they put dorothy and the lion to sleep.

 turkey vultures at intermission.  they roost somewhere in the hills behind our school, and one audience member even had binoculars to check them out.  he said there was a red-tailed hawk up with them, and a black vulture, too.  he also said that turkey vultures can smell to find food, so the black vulture just follows them.  

i recommend being backstage help for a unique view, and lots of surprising beauty.

abstract

blooming

spring is beautiful.

the trick is to find time to get outside and enjoy it.  

here's hoping your day includes fresh air and a "no rush" time zone.

joy to you!

rehearsal

wizard of oz - grade school production - opens thursday. 

a work-in-progress beauty. 

18

ran/walked 18 miles for the first time in 10 years.  last time, i was pushing a double stroller in the kansas city heat - well, no.  they wouldn't sit in the stroller that long.  but my weekday runs were with the kids.  i was sorely undertrained for that marathon. 

we'll see how it goes this time.  so far, so good. 

joy to you!

monday colors

happy new week!  

 these tulips were in an urban yard - lovely.

what's your monday color?

the best cake and a math clock

 chocolate cake with chocolate icing and mint in the middle - it was the best cake i have ever eaten.  i didn't make it, but am very lucky in my relatives.  do you have a "favorite cake ever"? 

my mathematician sister's clock.

what's happening this weekend?  

joy to you.

passageway

bright sunlight almost hid the stairway in this quiet passageway.

where does it go?

spring

 during our field trip last week, i learned that this little yellow flower is an invasive species, and that our forest has changed a lot with this plant and the honeysuckle that proliferates.  

but this little invader makes a beautiful carpet of flowers in the still-wintery forest.

 the field - still brown.

 some green is popping out by the little miami river.  

outdoor beauty.  happy spring!

oof

 some days ago i was supervising recess, holding a water bottle, and a soccer ball hit me hard.  the child who kicked it immediately apologized, and of course it wasn't his fault - i was standing on the field.  but when the ball hit me, i almost lost my breath.  "oof!"  sometimes it's the appropriate feeling, even when not whacked by a ball.  

someday i will make a real "mood board", but here are a few postcards i enjoy.  mondrian, diego rivera, jasper johns, and that "oof!" person, edward ruscha.  

ever had that feeling?

heart half

sunday morning, left home at 6:30 a.m.  it was still dark.

we met fellow crazy people at the westin downtown,  

and saw the brightening sky from the starting line.

columbia parkway has a wonderful view of the ohio river.  usually you see it from the window of your car.

we run 3 minutes and walk 1 minute.  very nice people hang out at the back in races.  the front, too, i've heard, but i've never been there.  over 13.1 miles, you have lots of time to chat and enjoy the day.

here's a walk break in the middle of the road on a bridge.  we've run over this bridge many times before, but always on the sidewalk!

the next race was starting as we headed home.  

joy to you!

monday color

forsythia.  early spring beauty.

what's beautiful where you are?

greenacres foundation

 field trip!

 sugar shanty - they made maple syrup here.

 rock up a steep hill in the woods.  no cemetery within sight.  

 electric fence around the food garden.  these folks know their nature, and they're serious.  but great with children.  in cincinnati, visit the greenacres foundation.

happy weekend!

glendale

before a montessori meeting, we had dinner in glendale.

the wall art depicts the history of the area.  the deafening (and i mean that in the truest sense) train whistle as we walked to the restaurant brought the history to life.

hey! didn't know there was a bob roncker's running spot here!  the best in cincinnati.

our restaurant.

 a burger or fish-n-chips.  

happy almost-friday!

wednesday

 the river was like glass tonight, clear and calm.

 lots of families were picnicking and a little boy with no shirt watched us run by and smiled.  

 i had to stop and catch the sunset behind downtown cincinnati.

 the effects reminded me of a jmw turner - too beautiful to be real.  

joy to you!