Lesson 533: Thrive

Happy weekend, Readers.

I'm starting to exhale the month of April.

A busy month is winding down.

It's the month of daffodils

cold, wet mud,

and chilly evenings watching baseball and softball.

I treated April a little differently this year.

It's the month I always try to hurry through

and wish away.

I wish it was warmer.

I wish it was closer to the end of the school year.

I wish it would stop raining.

In past years I'd say to myself

just survive it.

But surviving doesn't involve much enjoyment,

does it?

Life is too short to wish away 30 days a year.

This year, 

I set my mind not to survive,

but thrive.

Thrive is a cool word.

It means to flourish and prosper.

That, we've done in the sports world.

Thrive also means to grow and develop well.

We've got that covered, too.

All this thriving makes Eloise tired at night,

but I stay up on Monday nights to watch this show,

It has a LOST feel to it

and I love the plot because it's different.

A threshold?

Travel through bent time?

Eloise is sold.

I enjoy stories so much and read so many books,

most TV shows are the same old same to me,

but this show is really different and worth the watch.

I started to write a really good story.

It was Sam's request.

He's been pestering me for HIS book.

The Key was for Ellen.

My first book was Misunderstood--a story about autism, for Natalie.

It's tucked away in a box somewhere in the Lamp Post.

Sam reminds me every day that he doesn't have HIS story yet,

and finally, 

this week,

my brain opened up.

I think it's because I finished my graduate classes

and am on my way to getting a special stamp on my PA Teaching Certificate.

I came up with the two things I need most to start a book:

the title and the ending.

Now that I know how it will end,

I have to go back and figure out how I'm going to get there.

That's the fun part.

That's how I write--messy and backwards.

Just like how I roll.

I'm debating whether or not to release the title,

or make you all wait.

Let me know what you want.

I also chose my summer reading material.

I got a jump on it now that I don't have to read Education articles

and write papers.

This line is how Madeline L'Engle chose to begin

her famous novel A Wrinkle in Time.

My students and I read it several years ago.

I told them it was an old book worth resurrecting,

and now they made a movie out of it!

Thank you Keeley and Dallas for loaning me your book set!

Not many people realize A Wrinkle in Time 

is the first of a quintet.

I'm going to find out what happens in the rest of the series.

All the books in the quintet have neat covers.

 I'll have to have Ellen illustrate some sort of cool cover

for my next book which I titled

  T __  __            ___  ___  ___  ___  ___ ___ ___ ___.

I think the little illustration teasers make a book more appealing.

You shouldn't judge a book by its cover,

yet, a good cover 

certainly makes you eager to turn the pages.

Oh! A snake!

Jeepers!

What's he doing there?

Who lives in the cozy, little house?

Are those apples or peaches?

What's up with the crow guy?

Eloise thrives on photos, stories, and music--

so here's the music part of this blog.

I've had this song on loop for most of the week.

Thanks, Casting Crowns

for a great song in my head.

This is the album cover, which I love.

Here is the song,

which I love even more.

Don't just survive the week, Readers.

Thrive.

We were made to.

Eloise

Lesson 532: Say Goodbye to Old Man Winter

Hello, Readers!
Eloise has her eagle eye on you this weekend.
She's making sure winter is leaving town for good.

It was a good week for birds.

My workout group found this injured eagle in Liberty Park.
A gentleman put a call in to the Tamarack Wildlife Rehabilitation
to come and help him.

If you like eagles
you can follow the hatch in Decorah, Iowa.
The first link offers some more information
and how to find the live camera.

Decorah Eagles, Iowa---CLICK HERE for full story

This is a video of the eagles guarding their eaglets 

during the Iowa snowstorm a few days ago.
It was amazing to watch the teamwork of both parents.

This cute little woodpecker not only taps on my tree,

he pounds on the sap bucket!

He almost has a hole through it.

It was terribly cold and windy this week

and the seagulls landed on the soccer field.

The photos are blurry because I was so far away,

but I think that's a baby seagull.

I've never seen one.

And here is the sweet, spring robin.

A mighty fat one, at that!

Robin is such a beautiful name.

I considered it for both of my daughters,

but I have a first cousin by that name already.

A sweet little girl,

long departed from this earth,

Robin Bush,

reemerged in the news this week.

Natalie's class discussed the passing of Barbara Bush, too.

I was teary the whole way to work when I saw this political cartoonists rendering

of Barbara reuniting with her young daughter,

lost years and years ago to leukemia.

It made the Bush family seem more real for some reason.

Not just a political dynasty.

Real people.

Real pain.

The robins were so confused this week after another spring snow dump on Erie.

To avoid the snow covered grass,

they all flocked to the roadsides.

They don't get out of the way that fast, either.

If you heard me honking my horn all the way down

Firman Road,

that was why.

With snow dominating the Lamp Post blog topics

for six solid months,

we still just fell under the 200 inch mark.

Eloise was rooting for another inch and a half 

to bring our 198.5 to the ripe, round 200,

but no such luck.

The Midwest storm that blanketed the Decorah eagles

with 10 inches of snow on their nest,

petered out by the time it reached our region.

We'll have to order our 198.5 window decals for our cars

in spite of it.

Since Eloise is saying goodbye to Old Man Winter tonight,

I'll send him off with a song.

Tim McGraw has a perfect song for every occasion.

Click the link below to play Comin' Home to listen 

while you scroll down through what hopefully will be the last of my winter shots.

This is from one of Tim's older albums, Let It Go.

Look-backs are neat to see how things change.

I think Mr. McGraw looks even better now.

Say goodbye to old man winter,

Say hello to sweet springtime,

'Cause I'm coming out of hiding,

I'm gonna get it right this time

After so long being frozen

It took awhile to thaw me out

I spent too long not knowing

What love is supposed to be about

Now I'm find out 

It's a lot coming home

from a long time walking in the snow...

...thanks Tim McGraw. 

Perfect.

This morning the sun came up

and the birds sang

and the world felt fresh and clean.

Goodbye Old Man Winter.

We are tired of you,

and you've long worn out your welcome.

Miss Spring has finally arrived.

One thing we haven't tired of at the Lamp Post is this show.

It's been on my TV since Sam

received the deluxe,

5 season set

of all episodes.

I could see his surprised expression as he tore open the gift wrap.

Sam had no idea what the show was.

You're going to love it, Sam!

said Mother Eloise.

What I was not prepared for was the contempt they voiced over Cindy Brady.

They hate her!

They call her a baby,

a whiner,

and a little brat!

I always thought she was kind of cute.

The thing that shocked me was watching Alice.

Ann B. Davis.

Born in nearby New York,

she appeared on the Brady Bunch during all 5 seasons,

from 1969 through 1974.

Google image the blue dress and white aproned 

housekeeper with the sensible shoes.

Her hair never changed style,

but it grew progressively grayer throughout the five years.

Now, Ladies.

Realize Alice was 43 through 47 years old.

Old Maid Alice.

Ahh, how times have changed.

It's hard to see change happen when your spinning in it.

It's best viewed in a look-back.

While we survived a white April,

I tried to recall what other mid-Aprils looked like.

That's one nice thing of writing a blog.

It's like a personal timeline.

Here are some past mid-Aprils

while this Lamp Post light has been lit.

Enjoy the look-back.

April 2017

April 2016

April 2015

April 2014

April 2013

2012 and 2011

Check the archives.
Even Eloise has changed her writing style.
Back then,
more words,
fewer photos.
Photos were always in the form of videos.

Goodbye Old Man Winter.
See you next season--
I request not until Christmas Eve about 7:00 pm.
That's just about the perfect time to arrive.

Eloise