Lesson 647: Color

Good evening, Readers.

It's been quite a week.

The school year has ended,

like a dandelion gone to seed,

while Erie is still in the yellow,

whatever that means.

Our Pennsylvania world is divided by 

red

yellow

and green.

The thing with leaving a yellow light burn too long,

is that people will accelerate through it anyway.

This corona.

It's yellow.

And good.

I had mine with a hot dog

at a 

red

white

and blue

socially distanced outdoor gathering

for my immediate family

on Memorial Day.

The orange and black

begins their final honors for the 

Class of 2020.

In my humble opinion,

they've done a wonderful job

trying to make the end of the year

as special as they could

for our masked graduates.

We had a few summer-like days
of brilliant blue skies



and calm blue waters.

The students final reports were generated today.

The success of their quarantine studies

are all in black and white.

As Mrs. Eloise posted the last chapters and the epilogue

of her 2011 novel The Key,

student responses rolled in.

The novel ended up

coming in clutch for pandemic reading assignments.

J K Rowling

also dug out a story 

she wrote for her children years ago,

also 34 chapters long.

Mine was 33 chapters and an epilogue.

This free read,

with an illustration contest

open to kids aged 7-12

has me tickled pink.

CLICK HERE to read about The Ickabog

We can't walk away from a blog post

titled Color

without giving some space for this.

Grades are due today

and if I was giving the world in general

a grade for Behavior,

I'm sorry to say that this week,

it's an F in many sub categories.

We can do better.

We must.

Eloise

Lesson 646: Mute Button

Hello, Readers!

Eloise, here,

taking a look back at the week.

I'm sitting on my couch sipping tea with honey

instead of my usual Friday night cocktail.

I'm not sick.

I'm hoarse!

We've had an unusually exciting week

and I've done lots and lots of talking.

Online school,

coupled with constant time with my family,

and many Walks & Talks

I take with Hazel and loved ones,

I barely have a voice by Friday.

The mute button is my new favorite thing.

Students,

I often mute you for the background noise

coming from your homes.

But there may have been a time or two

my finger slipped.

So tonight I'm resting my vocal cords

and my fingertips.

I'm hitting the mute button on myself.

I stand by the old saying

a picture is worth a thousand words.

See if you can put together

some of our excitement without words.

I'll fill you in next week.

I'll start with the quietest

and progress to the noisiest news.

eloise

Lesson 645: I Called Mama

It's the weekend, Readers.

I really wish I was going to a baseball game.

Oh, how I miss it!

The bats have been replaced with badminton rackets

and a yard net for the time being.

We do head out to play on nice days like this.

And when we fight whether the birdie that fell on the line

was in our out,

I Call Mama.

She doesn't have to walk too far.

Helen will tell you what it was

without dispute.

I asked Mom what she feels about

this lovely weather Erie has been experiencing

and her words

were not so grandmotherly.

Mama wanted a Mother's Day photo

of my sister and I with masks on so we could

remember this Mother's Day.

I really don't think this is one

we will soon forget.

You know what I call the Mama Wren 

to these babies.

A two bit tramp.

One by one my little fluff balls

jumped from their nest on Mother's Day evening

as the weather again turned cold and windy.

I even put the dog in so she wouldn't disturb the process.

Hazel was not happy.

Eloise stayed far, far away.

I couldn't hear this little guy calling for its Mama,

but I could see it through my lens.

And one by one I watched them die.

For a bit, 

I thought one made it,

until a day later when Ellen found the fifth one 

dead in my shoe.

This mother Robin seems to be doing a better job of things.

Can you name this bird I caught on a wire?

I caught this bird ruffling her feathers 

down in the Harborcreek Community Park.

There certainly enough people with ruffled feathers

over the decisions to move from red to yellow

or yellow to green.

and I'm not talking traffic lights.

Time not only tells,

but it has a way of showing you

things that matter the most.

I loved the gifts my thoughtful children gave to me.

They shopped locally,

knew just what I needed to relax,

and wrote a heartfelt note

that I have since framed.

22 reasons because I've been a Mom for 22 years!

I had to be tough as a mother

watching my kids deal with some disappointment this week.

The drive up Bowling Banquet

for their league wasn't quite as celebratory this year.

The participants turned out to receive their trophies

in a long car line that looped the empty parking lot.

We waited patiently to see our dear friends.

Oh my!

How we miss them!

Eloise has a soft heart,

but I'm tough when I need to be.

After dropping a million hints that

the Italian lemon cookies sure would taste delicious tonight...

I told them I was done with cooking....

for the rest of the decade.

Ellen submitted a photo of me to try to have a chance

to make Tim's Mother's Day video.

Bummer that I didn't get picked.

Have a nice listen to Tim McGraw's new song,

I Called Mama.

He always comes up with the perfect song

at the perfect time.

I'm signing off early this evening
because I'm going to learn how to play some online games
with jackbox and my relatives far away.

Got to go deliver my Mama some
delicious Italian Lemon Cookies.

Eloise