Happy summer! School has been out for two weeks and I finally feel that I have settled into the routine of summer: longer walks, lazy afternoons, and lots of reading!

Notice writing is not on that list. I’ve been very slowly getting back into the habit of writing every day. Amid last minute grading and writing report card comments, I completely missed our June Inkling challenge. So better late than never. Molly’s challenge was inspired by a talk she attended by Pádraig Ó Tuama. She paraphrased his remarks, asking us to “’write something narrative and by narrative I mean something that has story and observation to it…write about the first time you saw somebody who’s become a you to you…a you that you love to say…detail what else could be seen”… and let those other things convey what it all meant to you.”

Of course, I went in my own direction with this idea. On a recent episode of On Being, Krista Tippett interviewed Janine Benyus and Azita Ardakani Walton about biomimicry and what we can learn from the world around us. During the course of the conversation, Janine Benyus commented “don’t let the good stuff go.” This resonated with me on so many different levels, but really hit home regarding what is going on in the world of teaching reading in the wake of “the science of reading.” My work has been deeply impacted by the fallout from this movement and the resulting legislation, and I have really struggled this year to make sense of this.

My response to Molly’s prompt uses Benyus’s wise words in an attempt to cheer myself on as I prepare for the coming school year.

Please visit my fellow Inklings to see how they responded to this challenge:

Linda @A Word Edgewise
Molly @Nix the Comfort Zone
Margaret @Reflections on the Teche
Heidi @my juicy little universe

Then be sure to visit Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect for the Poetry Friday Roundup.