I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living…
Author: Kristi
Teacher. Writer. Traveler. Learning to see God everywhere.
Little Town
(Because for some of us poetry is clearer, and because I was inspired by the student portfolios I spent the weekend grading.) It’s a little town. Three hours is an epic journey so no one leaves because quests aren’t for everyone. Sister and niece moved three villages over So he’ll never see them now. Why…
Ingredients
It has been snowing all day by the time I make it home this Wednesday afternoon. I had romantic notions of going running in the snow, all the way up the hill to “see the view,” but gave them up on the walk home from school when I noticed that: I couldn’t walk more than…
A Map, A Headlamp, A Castle, The Fog
I consider bringing the headlamp. It’s in the same basket as the map, which I fished out carefully before leaving on this hiking venture. My large topographical map is indispensable; I bought it a few days after moving to Kandern, and it has been a fixture on every excursion since. I love this map. Emily has an…
NaNoWriMo
Short Story Ideas: Chick Flick Action Story Damsel in Distress/Platonic Ideal: Super smart and hot Creator made a weapon and then lost it. Quest: Find it and destroy it. Wants to make something better. Trickster/damsel befriends creator, tricks him into finding the Magic Weapon. Once they find it, she steals it and threatens the platonic…
Remembering
We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. from “In Flanders Fields,” John McRae, MD This…
Where They’re From
It is approximately the third question we ask each other. Unless we’ve found something interesting in the answers to “What’s your name?” and “What do you do?” we move on to “Where are you from?” It’s the most universal of the first-conversation questions. After a while you just can’t tell if someone should be in…
Time and Space
“Ms. Dahlstrom… can you read my paper?” -Everyone English 11 has a paper due in an hour and a half. Originally, I hadn’t intended that they would turn in their first literary essay at 10:00 PM on a Friday night. It had been Tuesday morning, at the beginning of class. Later, remembering that our department…
This Week, I’ve Learned
One of my hopes for life is to keep learning forever. This week of continuing to grow up seems like an appropriate time to celebrate that I’m learning more now than ever. Here are a few lessons, some serious and other less so, from this week. This Week, I’ve Learned: Recycling is financially profitable in…
The Western Front
“Comrade, I did not want to kill you…. But you were only an idea to me before, an abstraction that lived in my mind and called forth its appropriate response. It was that abstraction I stabbed. But now, for the first time, I see you are a man like me. I thought of your hand-grenades,…
The Way Home 