Sun was showin' off a little bit this morning over Lake Winnebago. 9/17/21

This was the NYC skyline 20 years ago today.

Powerful poem by Gina Puorro!

I hear there’s a bounty on my womb.
A high price in the currency
of power and control.
In the currency
of violence
and cowardice.

You want to make a home in this body.
Penetrate it with your power and lust
and demand I carry the seed you’ve planted
pretending to protect the sacred
when we both know
your concern is for birth
and not for life.
I’ve seen the way you watch
as young mouths go unfed
as young arms are torn from their mother’s embrace
as young bodies are raped and ravaged and locked away
in the land of the free
and home of the brave.

You read me ghost stories
from the good book
about purity
and innocence
and all the ways my body is wrong
and all the ways my body does not belong to me.
But I prefer different fairy tales.
The ones that were woven from an
ancient mother’s womb
whispered to her from deep in the earth.
The ones that teach me
that I am fire and water
that I am land and thunder
that I am holy and sacred
that I am the great creator and destroyer
that I belong to me
and only me
and I alone
will decide.

I hear there’s a bounty on my womb
but you seem to forget
that I am the huntress
and I can smell the fear
dripping from your cowardly words
and I dare you to try and hold my fire
in your bare, trembling hands.

- Poem by Gina Puorro

Another rainbow.....make that two!

When was the last time you heard this song....if you have ever heard it.

At first I saw the North Star in the tail feathers of a hummingbird....

I know I don't belong in this bush so I'll just peek out to say good morning!

Teachers plea to parents....must read!

Teachers Plea to Parents
"This post is for parents, grandparents, and caregivers of young children. I am begging you to please stop🛑 giving children smartphones📱 and tablets to keep them occupied.
I have been teaching Pre-Kindergarten children for eleven years, but it is getting more challenging every year because so many little ones are getting too much screen time. Through both formal and informal assessments as well as daily observation, I, along with countless other educators, am seeing a rapid increase in children who cannot converse or effectively socialize with others, cannot look at and listen to someone who is speaking to them, cannot say their names or communicate their needs. Currently, five children in my non-ESE classroom have severe speech and language issues, and several more cannot sit still at a table or focus on anything that is not animated for more than a minute.

Do you remember when your child first smiled at you?
They learned how to do that because you smiled at them. They learn how to make sounds and eventually say words by looking at and listening to the source of those sounds and words. Animated cartoon characters do not form words with their mouths... they are dubbed over the video. Children are left to try to form those words without a guide, hence the poor speech skills. (Yes, I understand there are legitimate pathological speech disorders, but I am not talking about those kids.)

Do you remember sitting and talking with your family and friends as a young child? You were not distracted by a YouTube video, but were looking at them as they spoke to you and then spoke when they stopped. That is how children begin to learn conversation skills.

Do you remember being a young student looking and listening as your teacher read a favorite storybook and discussing the illustrations?
Remember how that teacher read expressively and made the character sounds and you followed along?
Too many kids today cannot focus on a basic story time lesson. They have gotten used to being entertained. Teachers have had to up our acting game just to hold their attention for three minutes. (And no, it is not always ADHD, so do not go thinking hyperactivity medications are going to fix it.)

Do you remember playing with other children as a young child?
How you shared toys and talked as you pretended to take care of baby dolls or build a block castle?
Children are alone when they are playing on an app or watching videos. They may be next to you on the sofa, but they are alone in their head as they are consumed by whatever is happening on that device. When they come to school and have to work and play together, more and more children are either standing there with a “What do I do?” expression or completely taking over the center area with no regard for other children. They aren’t “bad” kids. They just haven’t interacted with others enough to learn they are not the only one.

Do you remember riding in the car and going to the grocery store as a kid? Remember how you recognized landmarks and knew when you were almost at your destination?
You knew what was on the candy and chips aisle and what was in the dairy department. I regularly see kids in strollers and shopping carts holding smartphones, oblivious to anything happening around them. They will not know the difference between the grocery and the hardware store because they are not experiencing any of it. They will not recognize their own neighborhood while riding in a car.

Please put your phones down. Take the devices from your children . Tell them, “No.” They will survive, actually they will thrive!
Sit and look at them and talk with them rather than at them. They need to see you pronounce words. Narrate what you’re doing in the kitchen or yard so they learn some basic vocabulary. Talk about the things you see on your drive to school or in the grocery store. Ask them what they think about so they know you’re interested and their thoughts are valid. Play with them so they learn to share and play interactively.

You only get this time with your children once. Please make the most of it.“

* Credit to Amy Mallams and from Facebook.

From NOLA....this is the 16th anniversary Katrina!

Katrina was also a category 5.

Good friend is riding it out at her sons home north of NOLA. Said it’s scary af! Her house in New Orleans was almost destroyed from Katrina and they spent a year rebuilding while living with her son. There are still boxes she can’t quite bring herself to open.

She works at Tulane and basically has the position of finding beds for the unvaccinated covid crowd. She has more concern for the patients left at the hospital after the end of her 14 hour shift Friday than she does for herself at this point in time.

Prayers and good vibes sent to those in the path of this storm…..