Diamante Poems

These are examples of Diamante Poem examples for my students.

Giant

Tall, big

Stomping, growling, raging

Dangerous, evil, sneaky, worker

Laughing, playing, jumping

Short, small

                         Dwarf                            

                                                        

Turtle

slow, small

walking, crawling, swimming

steady, green, quick, powerful

winning, galloping, racing

fast, big

Horses

Summer

Summer, Olympics

Running, swimming, throwing

Gymnastics, track, luge, snowboard

Skiing, skating, speeding

Cold, snowy

Winter

Tree

tall, broad

palm, oak, azalea, gardenia

flowering, growing, widening

small, short

Bush

Cat

Cute, cuddly

Running, napping, playing

Small, gentle, big, tough

Barking, laying, jumping

Loyal, friendly

                                                  Dog                                                                                                    

 

Butterfly

Large, colorful

Flying, floating, drinking

Fragile, lite, hardy, busy

Pollinating, building, buzzing

Small, fuzzy

Bee

 

Television

Loud, colorful

Sitting, watching, listening

Movies, reality, fiction, nonfiction

Reading, writing

Soft, wordy

Books

Creature Alliteration Poems

The Creature Alliteration poems are some of my favorite. They are fun and trying to find alliterative words to work with each poem is a challenge I gladly accept.

Bearian
This is a bearian.
A bearian lies in big, brown, baskets.
A bearian eats broccoli, berries, and brownies.
A bearian likes balloons, beach balls and books.
A bearian browsed the books in the bookstore.
My bearian brought black blocks of bees to the bank.

Catarian
This is a catarian.
A catarian lives in cool, concrete catacombs.
A catarian eats cabbage, cottage cheese and crabs.
A catarian likes cartoons, cars, and cavemen.
A catarian climbed a crunchy, candy cane.
My catarian crept into my cabin and caused chaos.

Lizardian
This is a lizardian.
A lizardian lives in luscious, lavender, lilac trees.
A lizardian eats lemons, limes and lollipops.
A lizardian likes laughing loudly on ladders.
A lizardian lazily lounges on leaves.
My lizardian licked my left leg.

Flowerian
This is a flowerian.
A flowerian lives in flaming flatulent flatlands.
A flowerian eats flaky, flavorless, flatbread.
A flowerian likes flying and flip flops.
A flowerian floated to the flapping flag.
My flwerian flaunted her fleshy flatworms.

Dragonian
This is a dragonia.
A dragonian lives in drafty, drab dressers.
A dragonian eats droopy, drippy, drumsticks.
A dragonian likes dreamy, dry dreadlocks.
A dragonian dropped his drapes and drills down the drain.
My dragonian dragged his drink across the driveway.

My Cinquain Poems

Here are examples I gave my students of Cinquain poems.

Students
Loud, fun
Reading, laughing, writing
As smart as they come
If only they all cared

Legs
Long, shortly after
Running, jumping, climbing
As useful as any other body part
If only mine worked well

Lizards
Quick, small
Running, sunning, jumping
As quiet as a mouse
If only they would slow down

Cardinals
Bright, Beautiful
Flitting from tree to tree
As red as strawberries
If only they would come closer

Kitten
Soft Fuzzy
Pouncing, jumping sleeping
As playful as a child
If only I could keep them all

Ospreys
Large, majestic
Always soaring high
As powerful as they are gorgeous
If only they would visit more often

Mothers
Loving, caring
Telling you what to do
As loving as they can be
If only she would let us help.

Honey Bees
Fascinating, industrious
Always buzzing around
As complicated as they are productive
If only it didn’t take so long to get honey.

Cats
Soft, cuddly
Mewing, rubbing, jumping
As soft as a cotton ball
If only I still had one.

Spiders
Hairy, scary
Skittering, swinging, creeping
As scary as a monster
If only I didn’t fear them

Students
Loud, fun
Reading, laughing, writing
As smart as they come
If only they all cared

Legs
Long, shortly after
Running, jumping, climbing
As useful as any other body part
If only mine worked well

Lizards
Quick, small
Running, sunning, jumping
As quiet as a mouse
If only they would slow down

Cardinals
Bright, Beautiful
Flitting from tree to tree
As red as strawberries
If only they would come closer

Kitten
Soft Fuzzy
Pouncing, jumping sleeping
As playful as a child
If only I could keep them all

Ospreys
Large, majestic
Always soaring high
As powerful as they are gorgeous
If only they would visit more often

Mothers
Loving, caring
Telling you what to do
As loving as they can be
If only she would let us help.

Honey Bees
Fascinating, industrious
Always buzzing around
As complicated as they are productive
If only it didn’t take so long to get honey.

Cats
Soft, cuddly
Mewing, rubbing, jumping
As soft as a cotton ball
If only I still had one.

Spiders
Hairy, scary
Skittering, swinging, creeping
As scary as a monster
If only I didn’t fear them

My Alphabet Poems

 Here are some of my Alphabet Poems I have given students as examples for their poetry.

FLORIDA

Alligators are the state reptile

Beautiful beaches are everywhere

Cape Canaveral is where you find the Kennedy Space Center

Delightful climate any time of year

Everglades most beautiful untouched area

Fort Castillo de San Marcos is one of the oldest forts in Florida

Gulf of Mexico has calmer waters

History is Everywhere

Ibis a bird with a long hooked beak

Jacksonville has ten state and national parks

Key West is the southernmost part of Florida

Lake Okeechobee is known as the river of grass

Magic is found at Disney’s Magic Kingdom

Native Americans from Florida are the Seminoles

Orange juice is the state beverage

Panthers are the state animal

Quiet can be found all over Florida

Rest by one of the many rivers then visit

Saint Augustine the oldest city in Florida

Tourism is our main income

Unique attractions can be found here

Variety of birds and other animals

Weather and wildlife bring back visitors

Xeriscaping is the best way to landscape and save water

Year round growing season

Zebra Longwings are the state butterfly

Writing                                                                      

Attitued is everything                                                

Begin with an idea                                                     

Create Your own world                                              

Dialogue with Characters                                          

Edit, Edit, Edit                                                            

Find your voice                                                          

Gather it all together                                                 

Hook your readers                                                     

Inspire through imagination                                      

Journal daily                                                   

Keep writing                                                               

Laugh often                                                                

Magic through motivation                                         

Negativity has no place

Observe everything

Plan and pace yourself.

Quality over quantity.

Read and revise

Set the tone

Themes are universal

Understand your dreams

Vary your style

What-ifs give you ideas.

Xerox copies

You will mark up

Zoom off to another story

 

Trees

Amazingly beautiful

Crooked, different

Enchanting forests

Gracing homes

Immense jewels

Knotty leafy

Majestic nature

Offering peaceful, quiet,

Remarkable steadfast

Towering unique

Vibrant Woods

Xylology

Yielding

Zantewood

Unique Animals
Aye-Ayes are mammals that use echolocation.
Borneo Rainbow Toads are very colorful.
Cassowary is a large flightless bird that can’t fly, but runs thirty miles per hour.
Dumbo Octopi has fins that look like Dumbo’s ears.
Echidna is an egg-laying mammal that looks like a hedgehog.
Fossa are filled neck lizards.
Glasswing butterflies have clear see through wings.
Hooded seals have inflatable skull hoods and nasal balloons.
Indri is a type of lemur found in Madagascar.
Japanese Macque is a medium sized monkey found in Japan.
Kakapos never fly but hike miles through hilly forests.
Leafy Sea-Dragons have leaf like appendages used for camouflage.
Mantis Shrimp have some of the most powerful claws.
Numbats are pouchless marsupials that eat termites.
Okapis are related to giraffes and have zebra like stripes on their behind.
Pikas look like rodents but are related to rabbits.
Quokkas make runways through tall grasses.
Red-lipped batfish are known for their bright red lips.
Sunda flying lemurs glide as it leaps from tree to tree.
Thorny dragons are a type of lizard that eats only ants.
Ukari are monkies that have bright pink to red faces.
Voles are a type of rodent.
Wetapunga look like giant grasshoppers.
X-ray tetra have translucent skin so you can see its backbone.

Yeti Crab have long hairy arms.
Zebra Duiker have twelve – sixteen stripes between their shoulders and hips.

My Acrostic Poems

A Sampling of my Acrostic Poems I have used as examples for their own poetry.


READING
Reality
Enticed by
Adventure that is
Dangerous, delightful and
Imaginative
Needs no
Gimmicks


NATURE
Nurturing life
Awakening
Tender shoots
Unique creations
Renewing Life
Enjoyable


CHRIST
Cares for
Humans
Rose from the grave
Is willing to stand for us
Saves us from our sins
True son of God

FORGIVE
Follow your heart
Open it up
Remember who forgave you
Give back with love
Ignore the urge to lash out with
Venomous statements

LAUGHING
Lean back
And open
Up your mouth
Gasp for air
Hold your sides
Include your friends
Near and far in
Giggles galore
Enjoy the freedom you will feel

CATS
Creeping up on silent feet
Attacking everything it meets.
Total love in fluffy fur
Satisfying gentle purrs.


WRITING
Working to create
Reading that
Inspires
Teaches, and creates
Images that need
Nothing but
Great open minds.


HATE
Hurtful words
Angry thoughts
Tear a hole in
Every heart

Students
Silly
Timid
Understanding
Doing
Everything to
Never Compromise
Their right to
Steer their own life course.

BOOKS
Bringing us
Out of this world to
Other places that
Keep our minds
Soaring into the world of imagination.

Student Free Verse Poems

 Quiet by M.T.

To be quiet
It takes no price
All you gotta do is spill no dice.
To be quiet
Just close your lips

People will be scared of you.
To be quiet
Just close your eyes
And listen to the sound around you die.

Car Accident by E.S.

It was an accident

a mistake,

a flaw.

Blamed to one person, leaving the other raw.

Why did it happen to her,

to him? Did they deserve what they saw

A messed up car with no insurance

Traumatized kids.

But all they could say was I wish

Here is a beautiful Alphabet Poem by L.M.

Family

Aways be honest
Be there when they need you

Cheer them on
Don't look for their faults
Every chance you get call!
Forgive them
Get together often
Have faith in them
Include them
Just listen
Know their dreams

Love them unconditionally
Make the feel specialNever forget them.

One of the Most Beautiful "I Am Poem"

 The last unit I teach every year is a poetry writing unit. For many kids it is a way of expressing ideas about what is going on in their world or their life. They learn that they CAN write poetry. We start with some easy templates where they fill in the blanks or there are strict pattern rules. I always have students do an "I Am" poem. The first part is about them in present time, the second their past, and the third their future. For most of these students I get to see them a little better. They bare their soul in this poem.

At the beginning of the year the student who wrote the following poem came to me and said, "You're a Christian right?" She then asked me to pray for family members who were hospitalize with covid and pneumonia. So I did.  The poem below shows how deep this child is.

I Am Poem by G.V.

I am powerful and faithful
I wonder if I’ll get to heaven where my goal is to go
I hear the holy spirit talking to me
I see the glory manifesting and descending over us
I want to be touched by the holy spirit
I am amazed by the things God does in my life
I pretend there’s no problems when you’re a Christian
I feel sad that I can’t save everyone from going to hell
I touch people and heal them
I worry for everyone’s salvation
I cry that people do bad things
I am encouraged by God’s word
I understand that God is my father
I say that God is the only God and that he is powerful
I dream to be with God and Jesus one day
I try to be good everyday to go to heaven
I hope I go to heaven and everyone does too
I am faithful that people will change

I was a slave of the devil
I understand that God save me and died on the cross for me

I heard false information about God and the holy spirit
I saw people burning and throwing away Bibles
I wanted to yell and stop them
I was devastated by them doing these horrible things
I pretended that everything was okay
I felt sad because people wouldn’t believe
I touched the hearts of some people
I worried I couldn’t tell everyone about God
I cried when I saw people murmuring
I was amazed by how people wouldn’t believe
I understand God loves everyone
I said I wanted to change people’s lives
I dreamed everyone was accepting Jesus
I tried to understand that people didn’t care
I hoped that one day some would understand
I was committed to tell people about God

I will be a believer of God
I will wonder if people are starting to believe
I will hear people testify what God did in them and the changes
I will see people accepting Jesus
I will want a life in Jesus
I will be obedient to God’s words
I will pretend I don’t get too worried anymore
I will feel blessed without what God gives me
I will touch other people and God will heal them through me
I will worry about nothing just about God
I will cry for happiness when I see more people converting
I will be happy with the outcome of the impact I will have’
I will understand it’s a test when I go through storms and battles
I will say that God is manifesting in my life
I will dream to be a follower of God
I will try to be my best to reach the mercy of the Lord
I will hope to be better every single day in Jesus Christ
I will be praising the Lord and believe in him at all times, even when times get hard.

Word of the Year for 2021

My word for this year is "LEARN". I had to think long and hard about this word. I mean, I am a teacher and I expect my students to learn each day. However, I looked back at this last year and realized there are a lot of things that I need to learn.

I need to learn that I can't do everything myself. When my co-workers offer to help, I need to learn to accept that help. I need to learn that if they have asked to assist me when I know how busy they are that it is a sincere offer.

I need to learn to be more flexible.  When a change must take place at school, I always say, "No problem. You know me, I'm the flexible one."  I am flexible. However, my emotions need to be flexible as well. I need to learn to let my emotions free. I hold them in and then find that I am frustrated or angry. All the time I am feeling this way, I am doing what needs to be done to accommodate the new situation. Holding feelings inside leads to emotional exhaustion. A splendid example of this happened on the 28th of December. This was the day before my step-daughter's wedding. We had so much to do. I had been working all day trying to get things ready for the next day. I had eaten very little for two days because I needed to get things done.  I was so stressed that I could not focus long enough to even make a list of what needed to be done. I became frustrated. I picked up a journal and began to doodle. This is something I do when I can't write to focus. Everyone kept asking what I was drawing. When I replied, "Just doodles", they kept asking what kinds of doodles. I finally asked everyone not to talk to me because I was becoming frustrated and needed to get my head focused before I could do anything. It was harsh. I felt guilty. Had I let my emotions out a day or two before, I probably would not have blown. Everyone was concerned because they knew how stressed I was. I know I hold emotions in and learning to let them out is probably one of the most important things I can learn to do for myself.

I need to learn to be a better communicator. I communicate with my students daily. I often come home so exhausted that I feel I have nothing left for my family. This is where communication breaks down. My husband can look at me and tell how my day went. He will speak and based on my response or how I responded, he will either back off thinking he doesn't want to add more stress to me or try to joke me out of my mood.  I often become so silent I come across as sullen. I just have no energy left.

I need to learn to forgive myself when I react in a way that I normally would not react. Most importantly, I need to learn to forgive others for doing the same thing. We have been under a lot of stress. Some days we are just holding it together. 

I need to learn that in the new year we will have a lot of changes and I can choose how I will react to them. I can choose to follow a negative path or a positive path. I must learn to always choose the positive path. Looking through a positive lens doesn't mean we don't acknowledge negative things happen. It means to look at it and try to find something positive in it that can be built upon. 

I must remember that no matter what our age, we are never too old to learn.  That is why I have chosen this word as my word of the year. May it be a year that we all grow and learn.

 

Starting Again

http://vonrider.blogspot.com/2015/10/starting-again.html

If you go back and read my post for January you will see that my husband and I had quite a difficult 2019. We decided to put the positivity back into our life.  Although I have chosen to look on the brighter side of things, that doesn't mean that things have gone all smooth.  We suffered three more losses shortly into the new year.  I kept telling myself if I could just make it to Spring Break I would be able to rejuvenate myself. Then Covid hit.  I like many teachers had to start teaching from home. I ended up putting in more hours than I did when I was in a physical school building. You may ask why, since I could just shut off my computer each day. This is true. But for that child who is the oldest of five in the family, and has spent all day making sure their younger siblings got their work done, I wanted to be sure I was there for them if they needed help.

Covid has made me take a new look at my students this year. I miss them so much. Even those who often gave me problems are missed. I have always had good students. I  have some this year that just aren't that "in" to schooling. That is what I mean by giving me problems. I have always wanted them to learn more than some of them are willing to learn. I have had to tell myself that I can't help them all even if I wanted to. Knowing that we won't have a traditional graduation ceremony for our eighth graders and I didn't get to stay up all night with them at Universal hurt. I really wanted that for this year. But I have some students who have asked if they could keep in touch with me when they go into high school. 

I decided in the midst of all of this chaos to submit my work once again for publication. I am now looking at having my book "Seventy-Times-Seven" published around the new year.  This motivated me enough to entice my students into agreeing to a poetry unit for their last unit.  I have enjoyed writing poetry with them. It got my creative juices flowing. Then I started reading again. I feel like I am back on my way to enjoying reading and writing the way I used to. I feel like I just needed that jump-start to get me going. So where many people choose to look at the negative impact Covid-has had on them and society; I choose to see how it has motivated me to change in a positive way.
So I am happy to say; I am Starting Again.

Word of the Day - Quaint

This poem for the word of the day was written by one of my eighth graders, Christopher

Quaint

You are different in many ways

You are awkward

Through all of your days

You might be old

or act that way

You are antique

But that makes you unique

What does this mean

What's the definition?

But you can't help

Your quaint position.

2020 Word of the Year

Choose to Move

     I have chosen the word MOVE for my Word of the Year. There was so much negativity in my life last year that I felt stuck. After a conversation with my husband about how negative things felt in our house the word popped into my head. Over the break I lost my publicist, my husband lost his aunt, a childhood friend, and his cousin. My daughter pointed out how negative we seemed when we returned our grandkids to her. I hate feeling negative. Our news is negative and that carries over into conversations everywhere.

     This negativity has a tendency to drag everyone down. I hear someone at school berate someone else. I can choose to join in and drag myself down or choose to ignore and MOVE on. I can listen to my mind tell me I will fail at something or MOVE on. For two years I have let this negativity in my head cause me to come to a crossroads and a standstill. I am choosing to MOVE forward past the negativity, to believe in myself when my brain or others try to bring me down. I choose to make decisions that will only MOVE me forward. 

     My husband and I have also chosen to MOVE forward with getting healthier. This means a lifestyle change. We are moving forward on our plan to eat Paleo and MOVE more through exercise. 

For these reasons, I have chosen the word MOVE.


Student example

Today was the first day back for students. For their journals, they are given a word of the day. They can write whatever they want, however, they want. I want to share what my student Lanette wrote.

Quaint - Unusual or different in character or appearance. This word is a word that  I didn't know until today. I like that we started the second-semester learning and writing about words. Quaint, for some reason I like that word. I will try to use it from now on If I'm being honest, quaint sounds like an object that boats or ships use. It's also a little funny when you think about it Some synonyms are charming or vintage, which I believe fit perfectly.

#DWHabit - Difference

I think everyone wants to make a difference in their life or the life of someone else. I know that we wish for our children and students to want to make a difference.  We are starting our unit on the Holocaust and Anne Frank.  The whole idea behind this unit is to hopefully instill in my students the desire to make a difference in their world.

I hope they learn about some of the things that took place in the past and how people like Anne Frank chose to see the good in others and the world around her even with the terrible things happening to her and people like her.  I want there to be some reaction that lets me know that I can feel confidence that these students are my future.

#DWHabit - Shiny

Why is it that kids will always go for something shiny without knowing what it is, or its real value. I am reminded of the Disney show "Moana". The crab was all about being shiny. How many people go for something "shiny". It is something new that they think will make them stand out in the crowd. It could be a new job or position. It may be something they don't really want, yet they think it will put them in a better or higher position.  I guess I have never been the one that wanted something so new and  shiny. Having said that I think it is important that we let what is inside of us shine. Maybe we need to be the "shiny" thing that someone else is looking for to help them improve their own life. Maybe what we have inside  is what we need to focus on. who knows.

#DWHabit - Glow

The word glow can mean so many things and is used in so many ways.

We speak of a glow a woman has when she has just given birth or learned she is pregnant. When walking down the aisle the bride is often described as glowing. We associate it with words such as passion, warmth, brilliance.

We have the warm glow of a sunset as it sinks beneath the horizon. My favorite is the warm glow of the summer sun that is just beginning to rise. It  colors not only the world but our mood and thoughts.

For me the glow of that child who has just accomplished something they thought they could never do, is what is special to me. It doesn't matter if that child is one, eleven or older. There is a genuine glow that comes with success. So why do parents, teachers and society try so hard to stop that glow with their words and attitudes? Is it something we do unintentionally?  What will it take to say those words of encouragement to make our kids glow again.  It seems to me that the world would be a brighter place with more light within it. Don't you agree

#DWHabit - Bubbles

There is something magical about bubbles.  Kids love them. Adults love them because it brings out the kid in them.  I get my grand-kids bubbles every year for Christmas. It has been the one gift that they always love.  They can't wait to get outside and play with them.  I love the giggles that come from them.  When my children and their children were babies I would blow bubbles at them just to watch them clap and hear them giggle. When they were old enough to toddle around I would watch them chase after them and try to catch them. Even our pets would get in on the action they would try to jump and catch them in their mouth.  Yest there is something magical about bubbles. I used to wish I could climb into a giant bubble and soar into the sky. I would get a rainbow view from inside of the world. I would be carried where ever the wind would take me. Yes, I definitely still love bubbles

#DWHabit - Summer

Today's word of the day for my classroom was "summer". My students were making comments that they couldn't wait for summer.  For me as a child I loved summer because we were free to go camping or visit far away cousins. I spent most of my summer outside since we lived in the country.  At least once a week we got to go to town and swim in the public pool.  This would be a three to four hour adventure if we were lucky.  My mom would spend time with her sister. Summer was a time of imagination, running and playing. It was a time I would spend in the rafters of our corn crib reading and writing.

Then there was the garden. I couldn't wait for the tomatoes to grow large and ripe enough to eat them. We would take two buckets to the garden. One was empty for the tomatoes and the other was filled with water to wash them. There is nothing better than a hot tomato from the garden. We carried a salt shaker out with us to salt our tomatoes.

When I was in tenth grade we moved to Florida. I loved sitting on a beach listening to the waves roll in. My sunburns were more severe down here. I found I had to limit my time in the sun. We tried a garden down here. I found that the food didn't taste near as good as it did up north. I personally believe it has to do with growing food in the sand as opposed to  rich soil up north. So what do I do now that I am much older?  We have a yard swing. I love going out first thing in the morning and sitting with my writing journal and my sketch pad. I usually take a cup of coffee with me. I listen to the sounds as the day wakes up. I sketch whatever comes to my mind. This usually lead to me writing something. Summer is the time when we get to spend more time with the grand kids. I love summer and like my students, can't wait for it to get here.

#DWHabit - Imagine

Imagine a class full of students, most of them hating to write. Imagine giving them a sticky note and telling them to write five words that they like, or they think are funny, or whatever. When they return the you type them onto a list of words you are collecting to use for their Word of the Day journal entry.

That is what I did today. I decided I would let them give me the words and then put them in a random list generator. One of my students gave me the word "Iridocyclitis". I had never heard of the word. I asked him if he knew what the word meant and he said yes. It is an infection of the iris of the eye. I asked him where he had heard the word and why he chose it. It was on a meme of a spelling bee he had seen. He thought the way the kid in the video pronounced it made it funny and it stuck.  Yes I did put the word on the list.  

My students told me it was hard to write from a single word. I told them I understood it. It meant I was allowing them to be creative and to do their own thinking instead of spoon feeding what I wanted them to read and write.  One of the other students popped up with,  "Yeah, she is trying to help us become autonomous." That was one of their vocab words this week. They struggled with that word. Suddenly when he said that, they all got it. Several said, "Oh, she's trying to teach us to be independent thinkers."

I am so glad that I picked up Word of the Day again. I had no clue what I was going to write until Hector gave me that word and told me the reason he chose it was because it sounded funny. I want words to sound funny and wonderful to my students. I want them to learn to love them. Having them contribute to creating the list of words gave them buy-in. Wish I'd thought of this at the beginning of the year.  I will do this at the beginning of the year next year.  This will give me enough words for at least two school years.

#DWHabit - Perfect

Today was the perfect day to begin something new with my class. For the rest of the year their journal at the beginning of class will be a "Word of the Day" I have a calendar hanging so if they miss a day they can go back and see what it is and write. I will also post the word on Schoology so if they check it from home they will be able to see the word. 

I chose the word perfect because we often expect our students to do their work as close to perfect as possible. One student wrote "What is perfect? I know I never think my drawings are perfect."  I used her as an example of what to do. They seem to accept this form of writing easier than a lot of other writing. The reason it is so difficult to get my students to write is because they are being bombarded with essay writing. I hate that our district does this to them. They prefer round robin writing or stories attached to things like candy canes where all the prompts attached to them are about candy canes. I have a special one for them before spring break. I have key prompts tied to antique looking keys.  I can't wait to see where that one takes them. Kids don't hate writing. They hate being told what to write and being told how to make it perfect. They don't buy into this lie because they have a teacher like me who tells them we can improve it but it will never be perfect. Maybe that is why they don't fight me on the writing

#DWHabit - Sing

It is a pleasure to wake up each morning early enough to hear the birds sing. This morning there seemed to be a whole choir of them. I could hear the twitter and chirps as they called to each other. Then there was the singing of the wind as it wafted through the trees and bushes. Even the planes that fly over add their voices to the morning choir. People leaving for church and places unknown form the background music for all of this. As the sun rises more and more and the day progresses those voices become less and less. From the time I was a child, growing up on a farm in Indiana I always loved being awakened by the sound of the birds or other farm animals. I live in Florida now and it is no different. I love waking up in the summer and going out to my yard swing and listening to the birds and dogs. I watch our bees flit in and out of their box and listen to their harmony of buzzes. The lizards make no sounds that I am aware of, but their dances with each other make me feel alive.  May I never grow too old to enjoy the singing of the world as it awakens each day.