Simple Dreams

I haven't blogged since June.  June.  So, tonight I decided it was time to get back to All-en-A-Day's Work.  I hope you'll forgive my absence.  I hope that I will be nudged to get this and several other bits of writing done... sooner than later. 

And what do I start with?  Simple Dreams:  A Musical Memoir by Linda Ronstadt.  Two weeks ago as I was flying to and from Saskatoon, I read it (it's been on order since I heard she was writing it).

I've always been a Linda Ronstadt fan (or Ronda Lindstadt as my friend Christine O'Hanlon lovingly calls her).  When Susan and I got married I told her there were three people I wanted to see in concert:  Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, and Linda Ronstadt.  And, together, we've seen all three.  In fact, we saw Linda in Denver not long before she quit touring as a singer... forever.  For those of you who don't know, she's been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and her singing career has been silenced.  Now it's through her recordings and her written word that we'll have to enjoy her voice.  

There's a wonderful section at the beginning of the book where she describes the "mud huaraches" they made so that they could run barefoot in the Arizona desert.  She writes, "We often went barefoot, but the ground in summer would become so hot that it could raise a blister.  The remedy for this was to wet our feet, then dip them in the dry, powdery clay dust, then a little wet mud, and then back into the dust again until we built up layers of earth to insulate us from the heat."  I used this section as a "think aloud" with my students as we began a study of how Wise Readers Ask Questions.  

As I've read her words, I've been pleasantly surprised by her writing.  As I've read her words, I've been pleasantly surprised by how much music as been a part of her life since birth.  As I've read her words, I've been pleasantly surprised by her candor and honesty regarding a career that has spanned decades and garnered many awards and nominations.  As I've read her words, I've been pleasantly surprised by her honesty.  She's smart.  She's talented.  She's gifted.

Perhaps my favorite passage in the book is in the epilogue.  She writes, "People ask me why my career consisted of such rampant eclecticism, and why I didn't simply stick to one type of music.  The answer is that when I admire something tremendously, it is difficult not to try to emulate it.  Some of the attempts were successful, others not.  The only rule I imposed on myself; consciously or unconsciously, was to not try singing something that I hadn't heard in the family living room before the age of ten.  If I hadn't heard it by then, I couldn't attempt it with even a shred of authenticity."

And she ends with the line, "At the time, struggling with so many different kinds of music seemed like a complicated fantasy, but from the vantage point of my sixty-seven years.  I see it was only a simple dream."

Like her music (I've heard it all), this last line knocked my socks off!  Simplicity... a shred of authenticity. 

I've been thinking about simple dreams of late.  I had one once... to teach.  It started in 1984 (after getting a degree in Communication Disorders).  I decided to teach.  I was probably listening to "Lush Life" while I did my homework.  It was a good dream at the time.  

But my dream has changed a bit.  Now with all the complexities and mandates and grand reformation and uncommonly good standards my dream is that I keep reminding myself of why I got into this career in the first place.  

Thanks, Ms. Ronstadt for reminding me to relish my career.  With all its ups and downs, gives and takes, mistakes and successes.  And, thank you, for reminding me of how important it is to "play in the desert mud" or "ride a horse with a friend" or "sing a song" or "stand up for your beliefs, your history, your voice."  Of how important it is to pursue learning with rigor and endurance.

I think it's time we all start thinking about all the children we know and have known; hoping that they too will have a chance to follow a "simple dream" in an overly complex world.

Albert Marrin - A New Fan!

Albert Marrin is an incredible writer.  I mentioned Years of Dust in a previous post.  It's an incredible resource for taking a closer look at one of the most devastating human catastrophe's in American History.  My sister, Joy, has told me stories of the dust bowl (she's 83) from her own experiences in Kansas.  I can only imagine.  Years of Dust reminds us of the importance of conservation and reading it is like walking through history... and important part of our nation's past. 
     At NCTE, I attended a wonderful session called "Energize Research Reading and Writing Across All content Areas:  Engaged Notetaking, Expert Writing" presented by Christopher Lehman and Kate Roberts.  Both Christopher and Kate were wonderfully engaging and I left with another Albert Marrin title in my arsenal of great nonfiction writing, Oh, Rats!  It's a wonderful example of the type of mentorship we have to put in the hands and minds of our writers.  In fact, I ordered a copy before I left for home that afternoon... it's that good (as was this session)!
     I'm always on the lookout for examples of great nonfiction writing to share with learners.  And, Oh, Rats! is a marvelous resource about an often misunderstood rodent (which I learned, by the way, are able to claw straight up a brick wall, gnaw through iron and concrete, and climb up a drainpipe and live--thanks, Kate, the drawings you had us do in the session still haunt me).  Rats.  Compelling really, especially when you read this book.  My students were shocked about the real story about "Ring Around The Rosie"!  And, I guarantee you and your students will love this book.

 

     Two other Albert Marrin titles I found in my stacks were Little Monsters:  The Creatures That Live On Us and in Us and Saving the Buffalo.  Equally as well-written, equally as compelling.  Thanks to Chris and Kate, I've become an Albert Marrin fan!

 

Never, Never Land...

J. M. Barrie, author of Peter Pan, was born 150 years ago this year.  One of his famous quotes is, "Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves."  And, oh what a pity he never got the chance to meet Jane Yolen.  Because, I think had he read her tribute to him in Lost Boy: The Story of the Man Who Created Peter Pan, he would have sprinkled her with a handful of pixie dust and thanked her for bringing sunshine into our lives through her own gifts and talents as a writer!  

     Jane has the incredible knack to bring us closer to worlds, both real and imagined, with her words.  And, this latest book is no exception.  Coupled with illustrations by Steve Adams, Ms. Yolen once again transports us into her writing with beauty and depth.  We get to know J. M. Barrie on a level that makes his life so real.  We've all heard the story of J. M. Barrie, but not like this before!

     Barrie once said, "Shall we make a new rule of life from tonight: always try to be a little kinder than is necessary?"  And, I think we should make a new rule for today... purchase your copy of this book as soon as possible.  I loved reading about Ms. Yolen's writing of this book on her website.  It's another grand addition to a collection of books that is driving me out of house and classroom!  

     "So come with me, where dreams are born, and time is never planned. Just think of happy things, and your heart will fly on wings, forever, in Never Never Land!"  Thank you, Jane, for making the childhoods of our children rich, thoughtful, and full of beauty!  Thank you for sharing a little of J. M. Barrie with us.

A Trip to Grandmother's House...

This is another book from my shelf of favorites... one that my friend, Randi, introduced me too years ago.  It is one of the books I to use during a study of sensory images or when helping children learn to use a piece of text to write a memory write in their notebook.  It's an interesting book because it's written in a haiku form, but to be honest, I never focus on its form.  I focus on the images it creates.  The way the dust particles play in the sunlight of the barn, the way the screen door slams, the way the red water pump squeaks.  All wonderful memories of a little girl's trip to her grandmother's house. 
     I've used it for a think aloud at the beginning of a strategy study of schema (background knowledge and background experience)... because there are so many things that get my mind going as I read the text.  It's a perfect think aloud... Ruth Tiller makes it so easy for me to share my metacognition.
     Cinnamon, Mint, & Mothballs is a perfect cousin text to Cynthia Rylant's Night in the Country or Patricia MacLachlan's All the Places to Love.  It's a bit hard to find these days, but well worth the search.

The Dust Bowl

While in Powell's, one of the books I didn't purchase, but wrote in my notebook as a must have is Years of Dust: The Story of the Dust Bowl by Albert Marrin.  I've talked to my oldest sister, Joy, about the Dust Bowl and I've always been intrigued by her recollections.
     In the 1930s, dangerous storms of dust that Marrin calls "the worst environmental disaster in American history," swept through the great plains of the United States (including the southeastern tip of Colorado).  Drought and farming practices caused the dust storms that plagued farmers, small communities, and families across the plains.  From prairie ecology to relating the Dust Bowl to some of our current environmental issues, Marrin has put together a wonderful collection in this piece... a nice mix of narrative, facts, sidebars, wonderful photographs, etc.

     It's a great cousin text to Timothy Egan's adult text The Worst Hard Time.  The Worst Hard time is a powerfully written book about the storms that terrorized the plains in the Depression years, a dark and dreary time in our history.  It follows families and their communities through the good times and bad times of this horrible time.  The story Egan tells is a more detailed account of what Marrin is explaining to children in Years of Dust.  
     My sister remembers her mother plunging sheets in water and hanging them in the windows at night... only to find mud puddles in the sills in the morning.  Both these books describe the destructiveness of The Dust Bowl... one specifically written with children in mind and one specifically for adults.  
     I will definitely be purchasing a copy of Albert Marrin's book for my collection... it tells an important story of our country's history.