Here is one of my favorite Autumn poems...

TO AUTUMN

By John Keats

1.

SEASON of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells.

2.

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half-reap’d furrow sound asleep,
Drows’d with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
Steady thy laden head across a brook;
Or by a cyder-press, with patient look,
Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.

3.

Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,—
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
And touch the stubble plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

Just so y'all know, this journal went "friends only" a ways back. It is because I am a teacher, and don't wish to post publicly in most cases.

If we're already on each other's friends lists, this doesn't matter to you.

If you're not on my list, and would like to be, please comment here and let me know who you are (please), and I'll be happy to add you.

I read today that historians fear that we're losing who Dr. King really was. As his life went on after winning the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in the Civil Rights Movement, he expanded his focus to concerns about poverty and he was violently opposed to the Vietnam War.

In fact, he was killed while in Memphis, TN to help striking sanitation workers.

I still remember the goosebumps I got watching video of his "mountaintop" speech made the night before he died. I was in the Lorraine Motel, which is now the National Civil Rights Museum, and an excellent place to visit. Listening to this speech, you really wonder if he knew it was his last night on Earth.

Here are a couple quotes from that speech, and a link to the whole speech. It is worth reading.

http://www.afscme.org/about/1549.cfm

But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars. And I see God working in this period of the twentieth century in a away that men, in some strange way, are responding — something is happening in our world. The masses of people are rising up. And wherever they are assembled today, whether they are in Johannesburg, South Africa; Nairobi, Kenya; Accra, Ghana; New York City; Atlanta, Georgia; Jackson, Mississippi; or Memphis, Tennessee — the cry is always the same — "We want to be free."

It is no longer a choice between violence and nonviolence in this world; it's nonviolence or nonexistence.

And the last paragraph...it's just amazing.

Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.

-- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Five for Fighting (a band I know very little about) just joined the good guys in my mind.

Take 4 minutes, click the link below and watch the video. For every person who does, Autism Speaks will get 49 cents. They do good work advocating for kids who have autism.

So, if you have the time, please watch the video, and appreciate how much you have.

http://www.whatkindofworlddoyouwant.com/videos/view/id/408214

Some years, I teach about MLK, and there is this lovely two-week (roughly) period where the kids really are a little extra-kind to each other.

We finished the unit today (mostly). Yesterday five of my fourteen kids got into physical fights at lunch, and another four were telling me about socially nasty behavior.

Ever feel like you're just paddling upstream against the wind? :-)

Actually, I am having the kind of week that reminds me of a kitschy sign in my cousin's kitchen. It reads: "Raising Children is like being pecked to death by chickens." So is teaching them, at times.

This week I have banned all collectible cards from our classroom. I am tired of seeing them when I am trying to teach. Can you believe the kids find Yu-gi-oh cards more exciting than verb tenses? I know, I was shocked too. The icing on the cake was the fight that broke out yesterday over card ownership.

I also am preparing a pop quiz for our next guided reading session. They tend not to pay attention, and I'm sick of fighting with them over it. So, this week, we'll do it, and then I will ask them to clear their desks and give them a little quiz on the story. Should be loads of fun, but it needs to be done.

Oh, and I have to say, when cheating on a writing assignment, it is generally best not to POINT OUT that your paper is the same as your neighbor's. The offender did this -- he put his paper in my box and said "Mrs. Melton, (kid A) and I had a cowinkiedink (sic). I first pointed out that the word is coincidence, then asked him to enlighten me further. First it was coincidence that his paper was the same as his seatmate's. Then they had agreed to work together. Kid A said "no -- he was copying off me." So, kid A was told that he should tell me the next time he sees someone stealing his work, and kid B got an all expenses paid trip to the principal with me as his date. He also got the valuable prizes of a chance to re-do the assignment and a personal chat with his mother and me. The NEXT time he gets a zero, but this is an 8 year old. They do get chances to do the right thing.

My class is generally noisy and on the fine edge of respectful. Today the principal passed out report cards, and she said when she was done: "Well, report cards look pretty good, but I know that you've been misbehaving lately and you are driving Mrs. Melton crazy, so you all should work on that. I had to bite my lip to not laugh. They looked suitably (and charmingly) cowed.

Actually, last month they were trying to melt my head by staring at me intently (long story -- it was in a book we read). I told them I was immune. It was still a fun game for all of us.

So yeah, my life at school really isn't always the subject of a heart-warming tv show called "Our Mrs. Melton." Just in case y'all thought it was ;-)

Maybe I'll get lucky and we'll get a snow day or two hour delay out of all the snow supposedly coming our way. That would be nice.

But I still love my kids. And that won't change. Pecked to death or not. :-)

Here is an excellent article on the reality of living on food stamps.

http://citypaper.net/articles/2006-08-10/cb.shtml

Happy Father's Day to all the Fathers on my friends list, and to all who nuture, guide and care for others.

The House voted today to cut funding for public broadcasting. If you care, call your Senators and sign Move On's petition...

http://civic.moveon.org/publicbroadcasting//

A very happy Mother's Day to all my friends who are Moms, and all my friends who nuture others in their own ways!

A quick wish for a blessed Passover for my Jewish friends and a blessed Triduum and Easter to my Christian friends. I am off to one of my favorite liturgies of the year -- Holy Thursday.

I also am frantically putting the finishing touches on the Night Prayer service for after. Ah, planning. :-)

Happy Spring to all those who aren't Christian or Jewish!