Signs of Spring in Chinle

Snow melts in the mountains, water runs in the canyon.

Greening mesa, birdsong and nest building (even though my phone still says 10 degrees in the AM).  Grass turns green.  One tiny patch in our back yard has taken hours of coaxing and why grass in the desert you ask?  Anything green brings joy.

Winds have started with a vengeance which means dust everywhere.  It piles up on window sills and this is just the beginning.  This will last until nearly autumn.  Gusts up to 70MPH.

Steve attacks red silt on the patio with equal vegeance and the leaf blower.

 
Spring finds us shoveling manure for the garden.   Our neighbor carts over a wheelbarrow full of chicken poop too(Maybe chick eggs will prout in our little plot ;))

One never knows what might or might not grow or survive out here.  It is cause for great frustration.

 The wind and dust and a bad knee(torn meniscus?) has me in the gym at the Chinle hospital Wellness center.  Young Navajo males all muscle and brawn..... and little 61 year-old me.  Intimidating?  You bet.  

Note 260.4 calories burned...that's lunch!

I will beat this knee thing.

And be ready to slog through the dust for a hike in the canyon when the water disappears.

Mobile take 2: Galimoto Poem

A group of elementary school children wrote this poem at the Mobile Young Writers conference.

Great job!  I love the first line!  I was inspired by these amazing wire toys kids made in Malawi to write the book.  It is gratifying to see my little book inspiring children in many ways here in the US.

Check out more about Galimotos at:

http://www.karenlynnwilliams.com/galimoto.html

and on the teacher page on my website:  http://www.karenlynnwilliams.com/files/galimoto_guide.pdf

Galimoto

When you imagine, you can create anything

Shiny grey wires braided together

Prickly, bending back sideways and forward

You can make a lot of things with wire

Prickly, bending back sideways and forward

You can build a train, a cup and a bike

You can make a lot of things with wire

Scraps, scraps everywhere!

You can build a train, a cup and a bike

You can make a lot of things with wire

You can build a small building

Today I am creating a scooter

Scraps, scraps everywhere!

You can build a small building

A wire to make a bicycle

Today I am creating a scooter

Shiny wires, colorful wires, shaped wires, all of them bending

A wire to make a bicycle

A thin kangaroo

Twirling and folding, twisting and swirling

A hard metal wire as shiny as a diamond

You can make a toy car

Twirling and folding, twisting and swirling

A long wire can make a person happy

You can make a toy car

Twirling and folding, twisting and swirling

A long wire can make one person happy

When you imagine, you can create anything

Alabama: Young Authors Conference

I did not see OR feed any gators in Mobile.  But these kids 

were voracious about reading their own work compiled in the 2013 Young Authors Anthology sponsored by the Metro Mobile Reading Council.

These kids were attentive and sincere about wanting to become better writers.  

The made galimotos and wrote poems about them.  

These middle grade and high school students were selected based on their writing abilities to attend the afternoon conference.  Your main character is not just defined by physical attributes.  What does he or she need or want?  Your main character drives the plot.   So?  Why is his/her back pack torn and repaired with duct tape(be specific about detail).  What is the brand name covered up with black electrician tape and why?  Why is there a note in the backpack that says "Meet me at B. King at 10AM  SLJ Be there !  Why does this person carry $1.59 in a glasses case?  And what else is in that backpack?  4 matches, a flashlight, a tiny note book with 4 lines of a poem.   Who is this person? What if? ....fifteen young writers...fifteen new stories.

And a little history too.

Lots of food:  Think gumbo, fried crab claws, fried ochre, hushpuppies, fried green tomatoes, oysters, clams, shrimp, red beans and rice, Indies crab salad and a mufuletta sandwich.

And they catch a lot of oysters in Mobile.

And shrimp.

Got Beach?  Oh yeah...and plenty of shells.  Not enough pockets.

Just missed Mardi Gras:

But the flowers were in bloom in Fairhope in February:

And even if we did not see any gators

We did see some dolphins, some pretty big turtles and beautiful cormorants.

Thanks to a whole lot of dedicated volunteers, teachers, parents, librarians, students and community organizations donating time and money.  You go Mobile!