About Denise Krebs

I'm the chief learner in life's adventure.

Postcard Prompt

So, since it’s a day ahead of the start of Teachers Write, I am going to give “Postcard” a try.

First, this is my home, sitting at my dining room table.

  • White walls, more white walls
  • White ceiling
  • White tile floor
  • Green and breathing philodendron and bamboo plants
  • Rumbling in waves from the refrigerator motor
  • Humming A/C unit
  • Savory black beans with cumin bubbling in the crock pot
  • Darting swordtail tropical fish here for a summer visit
  • Smooth glass table for writing
  • Uncomfortable lumpy chair that bids me take too many breaks

Inside summer work station. #cy365 #t365project #jjaproject

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Second, on one of my many breaks, I drove to the supermarket.

  • White cars, lots of white cars
  • Pink brick sidewalks
  • Skyscraper skyline
  • English spelling variations
  • Sitting in traffic, green lights come and go with no progress
  • Horns honking
  • Splashes of green
  • Cranes and construction
  • Warm sun on the dash
  • Beige buildings

Finally, here is Lulu’s, the supermarket I don’t go to very often.

  • Wandering back and forth
  • High signs with small print
  • Long grocery list
  • Unfamiliar store
  • Where’s the sour cream?
  • Where’s Keith?
  • I’m not used to shopping by myself.
  • Bottles clanking
  • Carts making rhythm as they bump over the ridges on the tile floor
  • “Maybe. We. Found. Love. Right. Where. We are.”
  • No lines. Thank, God.
  • I need a Bounty bar.

OK, but those were not one word OR short phrases in each line! I hate to be limited, Madelyn!

Yes, I know! Those are more the length of a letter or a U.S.A. Today article, not a postcard.

So, I’m going to try again because my guess is it’s harder to get the impression of the setting with only 10 words or short phrases. Plus, I want to use this with my students, and my examples aren’t going to be as helpful to my fifth grade English language learners.

Room 111

  • Laughter
  • Smiles
  • Arabic
  • English
  • Sweaty
  • Quenching
  • Scritch scratch
  • Click
  • Scraping
  • Colorful work
  • Sincere students

Yeah, I’m not sure that works so much, but I’m practicing.

On a side note: I found a nice blog post with words to describe senses of smell, sound, taste and touch.

Paying Close Attention

I’ve never been good at paying close attention. This summer I’m going to participate in Teachers Write much more fully than I have in the past. I’m home in Bahrain, for a long hot summer, no more holidays until I start back to school in the middle of August, so I should be able to do some writing.

I think so.

I hope so.

That’s my wish and prayer, anyway.

Today, I carried a small notebook to the mall, where my husband and I took a walk. Though my daughter gave me the notebook for Christmas 2015, it had only one page used up so far. I’ve been carrying it in my purse for close to two years. Now, for the summer it will be my writer’s notebook to record observations, dialogues, words I run across, and more.

So, I wrote some snippets from my afternoon and evening based on conversations and notes I added to my little notebook today.

While I started the car in the stifling ground level garage, Keith carried the hefty, plastic shopping bag overflowing with garbage toward the dumpster. When he came back to the car, he noticed I had opened my sunglasses case and had it sitting on the center console, ready to grab when we pulled out of the dark garage. He started in, “Now, what am I going to do? You know that’s my job. Are you taking my sunglasses job? Now, I guess I’ll just have to do my other side car driving tasks.” I began driving through the cramped garage. “Watch out…Don’t hit that wall…Careful, there’s a car…Ooh, that was close.”

“OK, wise guy, you can keep your job.” When I got to the door of the garage, I handed him my regular eyeglasses and waited for him to pass me the sunglasses. I put them on and pulled into the narrow alleyway, into the 110-degree heat. (It feels like 113, so the humidity isn’t that bad today.) “So, which mall should we go to?” I asked my husband, who is inevitably more opinionated than I about such things.

“Let’s go to the little fancy mall in the Seef district,” my husband said, “It won’t be so crowded on the weekend.” I turned the car toward the mall of our Friday afternoon walk.

As we rode along, I said, “OK, I have some advice I could give you about church today, if you are interested. About prayer.”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

“Well, when all the pastors and elders were in front praying for individuals, you were the only one I could hear.”

“Oh, no, did I leave my mic on?”

“No, the mic wasn’t on. I think you just need to work on your whisper.”

“Ah, I was projecting! I learned that in seminary.”

“Yeah, but you shouldn’t broadcast the person’s prayer request. ‘God, help this sister get over her drug addiction.’ Just kidding. I didn’t really hear that.”

“You maybe just heard my voice above all the others because you are so in love.”

“Oh, yes, that’s it.”

Lots more side car driving, “50…50…50…the speed limit is 50!” And later, “I would have gotten off at this exit.” That sort of thing until we arrived at the upscale mall.

“Oh, look, Denise. This place was named after us!” It was a chocolate fountain restaurant called Dip N Dip. We had to stop for a selfie:

Self portrait, already labeled.

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At this point, I remembered my little notebook, which I had brought along and intended to use while out on this walk. I said, “Hey, I need to write down some of those things you’ve been saying that made me laugh today, but I’ve already forgotten on the way here. Maybe I’ll write about you today, funny guy. Can you remind me what made me laugh today?”

“Just write everything I say. You can actually record it. Keep the audio going. That way when I die you can listen and laugh anytime, or cry maybe.”

“Oh, never mind!”

We took a lovely walk around this high-end mall.  High-end, yes: For instance, I walked into one small shop with an “up-to-90%-off” sign in the window. I was curious. The first thing I saw on the rack was a long, single-knit teal dress with some embroidery through the middle. It looked like a prom dress. BD1780 was the original price, and the marked down price was BD178 (What? Almost $500!)

“Thank you,” I said, as someone came up to see if they could help me. “I just wanted to take a quick look.” I slipped out after looking at only one price tag. This place was out of my price range, even with 90% off.

When I told Keith about it, he said, “Maybe we can come back when it’s 99% off.”

It’s a good thing I don’t need a prom dress.

*      *      *      *      *

On the way home, we enjoyed listening to music on a playlist that Keith created.

It has Beatles, Kansas, and lots of his other favorites–pop, rock and roll, and gospel. I’m not really big on music, but one day, I did say, “How about Gordon Lightfoot and Simon and Garfunkel?” My old time favorites. The next time we went in the car, he had a new playlist including some of my favorites.

Today, when “Rainy Day Lovers” came on, I asked him if he even likes Gordon Lightfoot.

“He’s OK,” he said. We talked about rainy days and loving.

*      *      *      *      *

When we came back, I baked chocolate-dipped peanut butter cookies to bring to a dinner tonight.

Keith exercised and then came into the kitchen to drink water. Afterwards, he dug into the dish drainer looking for his coffee pots for tomorrow morning. “I’ve never seen anyone who can stack dishes like you. You are super talented in that area! No one else can stack like you, Denise!” He began putting some dishes away. He finally made it down to one of his coffee pots. (I think he has a half dozen). He shook the water out of the pot and gave me some advice, “You know, for dishes to dry, it’s best not to use the super burial method of stacking.”

*      *      *      *      *

It’s a work day for him tomorrow, so he was ready for bed before me. “Good night,” I said. I wanted to stay up and finish this blog post before I went to bed. “I love you.”

“Yeah, that’s what she says now.”

“Thanks for making me laugh.”

“Yes, I am a Dad joke.”

That you are, but I wouldn’t want you any other way.

“Rainy day lovers don’t hide love inside, they just pass it on.”

Bread and Butter

Today’s prompt is “feeling back” into your childhood at the school cafeteria by Megan Frazer Blakemore.

“I don’t have a sandwich,” she said, with furrowed eyebrows, her hazel eyes staring deeply across the table. That sycophantic six-year-old boy always tried to ruin her life!

“No, teacher. I saw her sandwich, and then it was gone. She didn’t eat it. I know she didn’t,” he said with a smug smile.

Jo held the bread and butter under the table with both hands, willing it to compress into a smaller space. It’s NOT a sandwich, she thought to herself. She gazed directly at the teacher.

“OK, children. Don’t fight. Your mom packed it for you, so eat all your lunch,” the teacher said, distractedly, as she hurried to the next table to deal with spilled milk.

Jo’s shoulders relaxed, and she loosened her vice grip on the bread and butter “sandwich.” She stealthily moved her brown paper lunch bag under the table. Then Jo stuffed the squished wax paper-wrapped remains into the bag with her other lunch waste. Bread and butter is not supposed to be folded. Bread and butter is what you eat at home, not at school, she brooded.

 

 

Go, Nellie, Go!

“I always have a comfortable feeling that nothing is impossible if one applies a certain amount of energy in the right direction.”  ~Nellie Bly

Nellie Bly
Colombo, Ceylon
November 1889

“Well, I guess the time will pass quickly seeing beauty like this.” Nellie breathed in deeply and filled her nostrils with the warm, moist ocean air. The clouds skipped and danced across the gray horizon, where water and sky seemed to meet and merge.

“You be waiting for the Oriental?” asked the porter. His crisply-starched white jacket remained unmoved while he pointed out to the sea.

Hmmm. Where, indeed, Nellie wondered to herself. “Yes, I’ll be sailing for China when the Oriental comes in.”

“Will you stay with us, Miss?” the porter asked.

“No, I just came to see the view today. Thank you, sir,” said Nellie.

I wanted to do this “quick” write when I read the nonfiction prompt two days ago at the Teachers Write blog at Kate Messner.com.  The author who designed the quick write was Nancy Castaldo, author of The Story of Seeds. It wasn’t a quick write for me, though, but I found some fascinating reading about Nellie Bly. (You can see a list below.)

I like this sweet thought from Nellie’s own words in Around the World in 72 Days when she came upon a crow eating the early morning snack left for her:

I was not then used to having toast and tea before arising, as is the custom in Ceylon, so I let the crow satisfy his appetite and leisurely take his departure without a protest. I arose earlier than was my habit, because I had a desire to see what there might be to see while I had the opportunity.

After a cool, refreshing bath, I dressed hastily and went down below. I found almost all of my friends up, some having already started out to enjoy the early morning. I regretted my generosity to the crow when I learned that breakfast was never served until nine o’clock, and as everybody endeavored to have the benefit of the cool, sweet morning, toast and tea was very sustaining.

Because of that image, I wanted to write a scene about Nellie between 6-9 a.m. using this that I wrote:

“I wish I would have chased that bird away this morning and eaten my tea and toast myself. I’m famished,” Nellie said, under her breath. “Anyway, I hope the crow enjoyed it.”

Instead, I found myself becoming a bit distracted trying to figure out the different hotels mentioned.

The first thing I read was Rosemary Brown’s account of her trip around the world in the footsteps of Nellie. She said, describing the Mount Lavinia Hotel:

It is a “castle-like building glistening in the sunlight … on a green eminence overlooking the sea.”

Then Rosemary went on to describe her experience at the Lavinia:

With its grace, gardens, history and fountains, the Mount Lavinia transports you back to the most lavish of Victorian times. I adored it and so did Nellie.

I kept reading because I didn’t know for sure that Nellie adored this particular hotel–that’s about all she said about it. There were three hotels Nellie writes about and Rosemary later visited in Colombo. Besides Mount Lavinia, there is also the Grand Oriental and Galle Face Hotels. It seems she stayed at the Grand Oriental for the five days she was in Colombo. Thus, my scene got off-track because she was at the castle-like hotel overlooking the sea, Mount Lavinia, but that’s not where she let the crow eat her toast, and I realized she wouldn’t have gone to visit before breakfast.

Hmmm…I’m afraid I would get too distracted with the facts if I was going to write narrative nonfiction!

Just an aside, I found it curious that 125 years after Nellie’s trip, Rosemary was not able to find records of Nellie’s visits at any of the Colombo hotels. I guess Nellie Bly’s trip around the world wasn’t as big a deal in Ceylon as it was for us.

Resources

  1. Grand Oriental Hotel – Colombo, Sri Lanka
  2. Galle Face Hotel
  3. Mount Lavinia Hotel Wikipedia
  4. Around the World in 72 Days by Nellie Bly
  5. Nellie Bly in the Sky by Rosemary J. Brown

Share Your World – 2015 Week 13

A new week, and a new Share Your World post.

What was your favorite subject in school?

Geography has always been a favorite subject in elementary school through college. In fact, I majored in it at a California State University.

Geocaching

“Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away” (George Carlin). When have you had such a moment?

I had breathtaking moments when I gave birth to my two daughters and saw them for the first time. I also had one just this morning–breathtaking in a different sort of way–when I stepped out from a blind alley and nearly got run over by a car that was going too fast.

On another note, from a quote snob, George Carlin probably didn’t say this. (It doesn’t sound like him; that’s why I checked into it.) You can read more about who might have said it first at one of my favorite sights for investigating misattributed quotes–Quote Investigator. Most likely person:

“Remember that life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away! Dancing can do that for you!”

From Tahitian Choreographies by Vicki Corona in 1989.

What’s your choice: jigsaw, crossword, or numeric puzzles?

Alone I would choose crossword puzzles. I like them when they are the perfect challenge for me. Not too easy. But not impossibly difficult either. I also like when the answers are in the back of the magazine, so I can take a peek every once in a while when I get stuck.

Jigsaw puzzles, though, I love to do with others. Even easy ones with children. I love to watch them have “A-ha” moments.

Jigsaw Puzzler

If you found an obviously abandoned car with $50,000 in the back seat, what would you do?

How would one know it was abandoned? I’m not sure how it would be obvious to me. The VIN numbers would have to be drilled out or ground off. (My husband said there are seven numbers in various places.) The license plates would have to be taken off. Would there be any other way of identifying the owner? (I’m reading the questions too literally today!) I’m sure I would just call the police and let them deal with the car, the owner, and the money.

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I’m grateful for days off to catch my breath. I don’t always want to have my breath taken away! I’m looking forward to getting back to my kindergarteners.

Share Your World – 2015 Week 12

I just saw a tweet today about “Share Your World.”

Share Your World by Cee’s Photography has been going on for over two years, but Georgia’s was the first post I read. Actually, it was the first time I heard about it. (Georgia, I think you should get out today and sit on your bench for lunch! It’s been too long.)

So, today, I thought I would give it a try, since I’m on a week-long holiday from school. Hopefully, it won’t be only a one week adventure. Here goes!

When was the last time you sat on a park or garden bench for more than ten minutes? Describe the occasion.

Last month I sat on a bench at the beach in Muscat, Oman. It was lovely and peaceful. I need to do this more often.

The beautiful beach in Oman moved much more slowly than the video.

Would you ever be interested in observing a surgery or do you turn away when the nurse brings out the needle? 

Yes, I definitely would want to observe any surgery. I would possibly have to sit down, though, if I saw too much blood.

Where’s your favorite place to take out-of-town guests?

One place we definitely take out-of-town guests is to our favorite restaurant, and the first one that we went to when we arrived in Bahrain. It’s called Al-Abraaj. Here’s just a sampling of some of our favorites.

My favorites

There is no better bread!

If you had an unlimited shopping spree at only one store, which one would you choose? Why?

Any nice kitchen supply store. I would buy a KitchenAid stand mixer, pans and knives. I would have a foolishly extravagant and overly-consumptive time.

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I’m grateful I made it through a long few months of school. Now I’m enjoying my first day of spring break. I look forward to celebrating Holy Week.

Click away, if you want to participate in Week 12 or become a member of “Share Your World.”

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#140WC

#140WC Badge

The #140WC–140 word challenge–is a new challenge from my writer friend, Sherri Edwards. I guess I’ll give it a try. I like that she suggested once a day or once a week! Maybe anything in between will work too.

Here’s her original post.