Tuesday Slice: The librarians

 

It's the third night of our state library conference.   Over a hundred librarians are gathered in a large ballroom-turned-assembly.  There's popcorn in paper bags and flavored water.  Usually night activities at the conference are lighter fare like illustrator sketch-offs, but tonight the mood is more somber.

We are there to see a screening of the documentary, "The Librarians".

Texas seems to be an incubator for book-banning; some reports have this state placing second only to Florida in the number of challenges.  Librarians are often the target, both professionally and personally-- dangerously so.  The documentary turns the lens on several of those librarians, as well as exposing the money and politics backing the organized efforts to censor materials. 

There is resistance.  Groups such as the Texas FReadom Fighters and Texas Freedom to Read Project highlight the positive impact libraries make every day and support the right to access materials.  There is some good news, too: we learned that every book challenge that has made it to the courts has been ruled in favor of intellectual freedom.

Librarians protect the right to access materials; that right is codified in law.  That access is open to all, regardless of political or religious leanings.  

Librarians are protecting your right to read.  During this National Library Week, visit a library.  Give the workers behind the circulation desk and in the stacks a smile and knowing nod.  You may not know what battles they may be fighting on your behalf.

And if a screening of "The Librarians" opens near you, buy a ticket. 

SOLSC '25 Day Thirty-one: A rosy send-off

 

I am participating in The Two Writing Teachers' Slice of Life Story Challenge, writing every day during the month of March. My theme this year is "Outdoors".

Here's to thirty-one days of stories

Early morning thinkers, and late-night scramblers 

Thematic, or stream-of-consciousness

Family love and teaching celebrations 

Each Slice a rose, a gift for all to enjoy.

Thanks to this community of writers for another great SOLSC!

SOLSC '25 Day Thirty: Shoe problem

 

I am participating in The Two Writing Teachers' Slice of Life Story Challenge, writing every day during the month of March. My theme this year is "Outdoors".

While packing for a four day conference,  I was once again reminded that I have a shoe problem. 

I don't like wearing the same pair of shoes two days in a row.  My feet sweat, so I like to air out my shoes between wearings.  

Common sense and sensible packing would then suggest that I would only need two pairs of shoes for a four day conference. 

But no, I  couldn't come up with outfits that would coordinate with just two pairs of shoes, other than my travel clothes for the way up and my outfit for Wednesday.  Even my extra, just-in-case clothes required yet another pair of shoes.

So four pairs of shoes it is.  Good thing I'm taking a decent sized suitcase.

SOLSC '25 Day Twenty-nine: Conference prep

 

I am participating in The Two Writing Teachers' Slice of Life Story Challenge, writing every day during the month of March. My theme this year is "Outdoors".

Our annual Texas Library Association conference is next week in Dallas.  I love being surrounded by fellow librarians for four days.  I love learning about new book lists, seeing beloved authors, and celebrating information literacy and the freedom to read.

But...I ain't gonna lie; it's an overwhelming experience for an introvert like me.  Full days of navigating crowded,  unfamiliar places is exhausting exercise that tests my socialization and sensory limits. 

But...this isn't my first rodeo, as folks in Texas say.  Beyond the usual tips of packing snacks, wearing comfy shoes and clothes layers, I have developed a system of preparing and overpacking to cover most of the possible annoying and/ or anxiety-provoking circumstances while spending four days away from the comforts of home.

Here is a list of some of those items and tasks, in no particular order:

• Tweezers, after spending one conference constantly messing with an annoying chin hair.
• Super stick bandages,  because those shoes that were so comfortable for the first five hours will  suddenly decide to start rubbing your heel raw.
• Gum, essential post-lunch because you never know what favorite author or future employer may be standing next to you in the elevator. Same reason to carry a stain-fighting pen.
• Doing my full-on curly hair routine right before I leave home. The products alone would add ten pounds to my suitcase.  Yes, I will have to wash my hair by the evening of day three, but no one on day four will care if it's frizzy; we're all bleary-eyed  by then.
• Kleenex, hand sanitizer, and wipes for both ends...you know what I mean. While walking from one end of the convention center to the other,  spending hours scouring the exhibit hall, and standing in book signing lines, a fresh wipe can make you feel a bit more socially acceptable in those crowded spaces.
• Taking care of mani/pedi needs before leaving...and praying the polish doesn't chip, because who really wants to pack that stuff, too?
• Nail clippers...because you know you'll break a nail--Murphy's Law prevails.
• Last, but not least--I splurged on a private room this year.  Not only will it allow me to decompress after peopling all day, I won't embarrass myself by waking up a roommate with my snoring.

Here's to four days of learning and filling my bucket with all things library-related...and relaxing alone, in my hotel room, each evening. 

SOLSC '25 Day Twenty-eight: Got nothing

 

It's six minutes to post

And I've got nothing.

Long workday.

Tired bones.

Good night.

SOLSC '25 Day Twenty-seven: Hey, what's the weather like?

 

I am participating in The Two Writing Teachers' Slice of Life Story Challenge, writing every day during the month of March. My theme this year is "Outdoors".

""Was it raining all day?" my husband asked as we sat down to eat dinner.  Before I could answer, he remembered aloud. "I forgot-- no windows."

"Yep," I replied, "Didn't see the rain until the end of the school day."

In my dreams, there is a beautiful glass skylight in the ceiling of my cave library.  Sunshine or storm, a glimpse of Mother Nature's disposition would be visible merely by glancing up. 

But alas, it's only a dream.  So for now, weather updates will occur mostly at the workday's beginning and end, with the occasional view of the outside world on midday treks to a restroom. 

SOLSC '25 Day Twenty-six: The deadlines are coming

 

I am participating in The Two Writing Teachers' Slice of Life Story Challenge, writing every day during the month of March. My theme this year is "Outdoors".

It's spring

and the birds are flying

outside 

free as the blue skies

and winds holding them aloft

It's spring

and the deadlines are flying

inside 

binding as the black and white squares

on the calendars holding the time

Thirty-nine more days with

students

Thirty-one workdays to complete

inventory

Five hundred overdue

books

Four days away at a

conference

Three days of state

testing

Two days of necessary personal 

leave

One jury duty

call

These days, it's hard to see

the birds 

for the

deadlines.

SOLSC '25 Day Twenty-five: Signs of life

 

I am participating in The Two Writing Teachers' Slice of Life Story Challenge, writing every day during the month of March. My theme this year is "Outdoors".

After a workday spent indoors, my first activity at home was to head out to the front porch,  libation in hand.  I was soon joined by an eight-legged peek-a-boo player.  It became camera-shy and deftly descended on an invisible line to scuttle across the hot Mexican tiles.

I was getting warm,  so I took a stroll through our front yard. Our live oak bush is pushing out fresh new leaves.

The fire ants are staking their ground.

The rosebush has forgiven me for lopping off its more gangly branches, new red leaves and bright green buds appearing at the tips.

Mother Nature is taking care of providing some nice new growth in our yard. Guess I should step up and take care of the dead, brown plants disgracing our containers...

SOLSC '25 Day Twenty-four: Sunshine and books

 

I am participating in The Two Writing Teachers' Slice of Life Story Challenge, writing every day during the month of March.  My theme this year is "Outdoors".

Our library services director eased our return to work post-Spring-Break by scheduling our monthly meeting on this first day back.  For me, that meant an extra twenty minutes to get ready and a longer commute, giving me time to listen to my favorite playlist.  I had the car windows cracked a bit, breathing in the fresh morning air. 

We had more opportunities for fresh air during the meeting.  For a creative break, we created cyanotypes a la Anna Atkins, a celebrated botanist, photographer,  and author.  When we broke out into groups to discuss inclusive books, our team headed to a picnic table outside to share titles. The sun was shining,  a light breeze cooled the air a bit, and butterflies fluttered by as we talked about wonderful books that celebrate our diverse learning communities to add to our collections.

Mixing sunshine with art and books--my kind of workday.

SOLSC '25 Day Twenty-three: When a negative is a positive

 

I am participating in The Two Writing Teachers' Slice of Life Story Challenge, writing every day during the month of March.  My theme this year is "Outdoors".

I fully expected two lines show up.  After all, isn't it common to test positive for weeks after?  I'm still coughing a bit, though it's nowhere near the rib-splitting hacking like earlier in the week.  Still a bit tired, too.

But it's back to work tomorrow,  and I needed to know.  So I pulled out the box and went through the drill--swab, swirl, squeeze, cap, drop, and wait.  How many of us can do this in our sleep now, amateur lab techs by necessity?

Imagine my happy shock ten minutes later.  The sigh of relief.  The texts to family.  The feeling that maybe now, I  can return to some sense of normalcy and participate in events in the coming weeks.  I'll wear a mask in public for a few more days, just in case.  Out and about will feel nice, after this past homebound week.

SOLSC '25 Day Twenty-two: Bug season

 

I am participating in The Two Writing Teachers' Slice of Life Story Challenge, writing every day during the month of March.  My theme this year is "Outdoors".

The weather in Texas seems to change on a dime, especially at this time of year.  In one week, we've been chilly and hot, calm and windy, cloudy and blue skies.  With all this change, it's hard to define seasons by weather.  But there are two distinct periods by which we can divide the year: bugs, and no bugs.

I really enjoy the no-bug season. It's when I schedule my getaways in the woods to the north, and when I sit on my own porch at home, sipping drinks and watching the world go by.  I can wander my backyard without dousing myself in repellant and slapping at the biters that slip through the chemical barrier. 

I knew we were heading into bug season  last weekend with the appearance of junebugs by the front door. Just a couple buzzed around on their backs; there will be plenty more soon.  Today on the front porch, a medium sized spider cautiously crawled to a crack in the brick.  I had to shoo a pesky cranefly away twice before it gave up and rested nearby.  I brushed off my first mosquito as I examined my rosebush for buds.

No-bug season was nice while it lasted.   Now, where did I put that repellant?...

SOLSC '25 Day Twenty-one: You get what you need

 

I am participating in The Two Writing Teachers' Slice of Life Story Challenge, writing every day during the month of March.  My theme this year is "Outdoors".

I'm sitting on our small back patio, soaking in some sun, wishing the beams could somehow blast away the Covid bits that remain.  (I know that's not how it works, but a girl can dream, right?)  

This may qualify as one of the suckiest spring breaks I've had.  No road trips, no outings to museums or restaurants or cutesy stationery stores.  No books read cover to cover.  No binge-watching a series. 

As the song goes, you can't always get what you want.

It goes on to say: But if you try sometimes, well, you might find/ You get what you need.

Maybe I needed to rest.

Maybe I needed a break, without sub plans involved.

Maybe I needed to spend more time with my husband,  watching TV together and sharing memories.

Maybe our kids needed some more sibling time, hanging out together up north.

Maybe I needed to be stuck in my cluttered house for a week, to truly understand that I have to get rid of stuff.

Maybe I needed the reminder to take better care of this one precious body I've been given.

Sure, I  could have done without the fever, fatigue, rib-hurting coughing fits, interrupted sleep. But it makes me appreciate a quiet moment on the back porch, sunshine on my face and windchimes softly playing in the breeze, even more.

SOLSC '25 Day Twenty: A return to my senses

 

I am participating in The Two Writing Teachers' Slice of Life Story Challenge, writing every day during the month of March.  My theme this year is "Outdoors".

First,  it was the hand soap. I must have washed my hands in the three sinks of our home at least twenty times a day this past week to control the virus.  The scents of my Bath and Body Works splurges were lost on me until the meds kicked in.  Little by little, I would catch the whiffs of lemon in the kitchen, leather in the guest bath, lilies at my sink.  

Taste came next.  The sweetness of cold apple slices, onion in my guacamole toast (don't knock it 'til you try it!), and pickles on a sandwich tickled my taste buds.  It also meant that I could taste the meds--a small price to pay.

My hearing has improved as the congestion leaves my sinuses.  The fever has been gone for a couple of days; no more skin that's cold and clammy.  I have been able to focus on small tasks like laundry, putting stickers in my planner, and reading poetry.

This return to my senses has been welcome relief!

SOLSC '25 Day Nineteen: Making an appearance

 

I am participating in The Two Writing Teachers' Slice of Life Story Challenge, writing every day during the month of March.  My theme this year is "Outdoors".

Balancing on one leg

the other foot perched 

on the narrow tub ledge

How long has it been?

Weeks? A month?

Way overdue for a shave...

Legs now presentable 

I pull on sport shorts

An old tee shirt 

Cheap red flip-flops 

The sun is shining

on the chair I choose

setting my Fitbit timer

for fifteen minutes 

My white legs

making their first 

appearance of 2025

The spots and dots

a genetic constellation 

The blue-green veins

multiplying with the years

But they are mine

And they still work (thanks be)

And they deserve 

to see the sun.

SOLSC '25 Day Eighteen: Out of hiding

 

I am participating in The Two Writing Teachers' Slice of Life Story Challenge, writing every day during the month of March.  My theme this year is "Outdoors".

I woke up my husband for work. He said he didn't feel well...and now we're a matching set of viral loads.  His doctor recommended lots of sunshine.

Well, you don't have to tell me twice.

I showered and put on real clothes for the first time in days (if sweats count as real clothes; I am on Spring Break,  no need to break out anything that's the slightest bit binding).  I even pulled up my bedsheets and semi-made the bed.

After being reassured by my hair salon that my appointment was canceled without penalty (thank you!), I unlocked the back door and stepped outside. 

The first order of business was filling the bird feeder and setting out food for the squirrels.  I already felt bad about neglecting them for two days.

March is still roaring like a lion around these parts.  As I sat in a patio chair, the wind gusts were blowing the dead leaves out of Mother Oak's hair, making way for her new spring 'do.  A squirrel appeared in her branches, chittering at me. I told her to go on and eat; I wasn't moving from my seat.  She finally believed me and ate a bit from the playscape slide before moving under the feeder. 

Soon the doves came to the tree. They were beaten to the feeder by the starlings, who could care less that I sat but a few feet away.  A bluejay swooped in for his favorite peanuts. 

The magic was broken when a deep cough from my chest couldn't be contained. The birds skittered away in a feathery flap, leaving the squirrel to happily continue munching on seeds, looking up only to watch me return inside, closing the door on the sunshine.

SOLSC '25 Day Seventeen: I haven't worn shoes since Friday

 

I am participating in The Two Writing Teachers' Slice of Life Story Challenge, writing every day during the month of March.  My theme this year is "Outdoors".

It's Monday, and I haven't worn shoes since Friday.  I wish I could say that I'm beachside with no need for shoes, but alas, the reason is much more mundane.

I'm sick in bed with Covid.  

This is only the second time I've had Covid.  The first was two years ago, during another week off due to an ice storm. I had to manage a tree falling on our house while navigating a fever that time.  The only thing I  have to navigate now is a bruised ego from missing out on bright, sunshine-y spring break days.  Oh, and canceled MRI and haircut appointments.  Can't hack my way through those, spreading contagion while I'm at it.  

The one booster I didn't get this fall was the Covid shot. My doctor's office didn't offer it, and I just never made it into the pharmacy to get it done. I always get it on a Friday because it knocks me out for a day or two. But by Friday each week, I was too tired to even think about it. 

It might just be a good thing that I'm not wearing shoes.  I stubbed my middle toe at 3a on Saturday and woke up later with an ugly bruise. Maybe it's broken, and going shoeless is letting it heal? That could be my silver lining in this gray Covid cloud. 

SOLSC '25 Day Sixteen: Sunlight through the slats

 

I am participating in The Two Writing Teachers' Slice of Life Story Challenge, writing every day during the month of March.  My theme this year is "Outdoors".

I couldn't smell Vaporub last night.

I couldn't taste the pastini today.

Two lines, two tests, two positives.

One call, one doctor, one prescription.

Two pill packs daily, five days.

My only sunshine, on the ceiling. 

SOLSC '25 Day Fifteen: Cereus-ly

 

I am participating in The Two Writing Teachers' Slice of Life Story Challenge, writing every day during the month of March.  My theme this year is "Outdoors".

We had our monthly SoulCollage session this morning.  Grateful, yet again,  for the Zoom platform that our facilitator uses.  I am still sick, and would not wish this respiratory illness on anyone in the group.  Staying muted also meant that I could cough as needed without interrupting the vibe.

I am limiting myself to using one magazine a month for each card, based on the magazines I drew for our annual cardmaking in January. My March choice was a past issue of Texas Co-Op, produced by our electric provider.  It's always chock-full of beautiful photos and illustrations. 

Even though our focus this month is the desert, I  knew I had to use the cover photo as the background of my card.  It is a cereus night-blooming flower.  It appears only once a year.

Time in the desert, either physically or metaphorically,  lays truths bare.  Our needs supercede our wants.  We focus on what nourishes us and keeps us alive.  We look out for hidden dangers, and begin to see beauty in what we may have viewed as a wasteland. 

I am one year from beginning the last trimester of my life (God-willing).  It will be a time of paring down, focusing on what nourishes my body and soul.  The maiden had her fun; the mother has done her work.  After biding her time, the crone is preparing to emerge, like the bloom of the cereus.   Good things come to those who wait.

Card by Christine Margocs,  2025

SOLSC '25 Day Fourteen: Denial, or Blazing sun through dirty windshield

 

I am participating in The Two Writing Teachers' Slice of Life Story Challenge, writing every day during the month of March.  My theme this year is "Outdoors".

I just feel a bit off

I told myself, and my assistant 

Then I couldn't warm up.

That's what I get for leaving my sweatshirt jacket at home

Maybe an ibuprofen will help

It didn't. 

So I took two more at lunchtime. 

Hey, I am feeling a little better

But what is that on my tee-shirt--

Sweat marks?

I made it through the day

Worked until 530p, even

Walked out to my car

The inside an oven

Heated by a blazing sun

through a dirty windshield 

And it felt good, so good

That I quickly turned off the automatic A/C

and let the heat soak into my bones.

Cr#%. I really am sick.

SOLSC '25 Day Thirteen: A walk to the...portable

I am participating in The Two Writing Teachers' Slice of Life Story Challenge, writing every day during the month of March.  My theme this year is "Outdoors".

My outdoor time today consisted of the following walks:  to/from the car at work; to/from the fifth grade portable across the parking lot where I covered a class during the teachers' PLC; between my front door and the driveway; and to/from the front door of a restaurant.

Oh, and my fifteen minutes sitting outside on the porch at 6:45p this evening, because it was still light out, because, you know, daylight savings time (yawnnnn).

About that walk to the portable:  I've been ending my PLC coverage time for the upper grades with some keyboarding practice on typing.com.  After they have logged in and are practicing on their own, I like to casually sit down with the keyboard in front of the flat panel, go the site myself, and take a one-minute typing test.  I keep the volume on; the site uses the old clackety-clack of manual typewriters for effect.  

This morning, it didn't take long for the students to stop and take notice.

"Dudes, she isn't even looking at her keyboard!"

"How is she doing that?"

"She's going so fast!"

"She's still not looking at her keyboard!"

To be fair, I am nowhere near the speed I possessed fresh from my high school typing class.  Those skills came in handy in college, where I charged a dollar a page to correct spelling and grammatical errors and type out students' papers on my Smith-Corona electric typewriter.  But it does make for powerful testimony to the purpose of practicing--and using all ten fingers.

It was worth the walk to the portable this morning.

I was tickled that it matched my husband's age, 
on his birthday!

 

SOLSC '25 Day Twelve: Fifteen minutes

 

I am participating in The Two Writing Teachers' Slice of Life Story Challenge, writing every day during the month of March.  My theme this year is "Outdoors".

Thanks to the time change, it was still broad daylight when I walked out of the school at 6pm this evening.  Spring break is coming up fast, and so are deadlines on projects at work.  The to-do list remained long as I shut down the computer, but there was a cake to be baked and iced for my husband's birthday before tomorrow.  Besides, by six, my brain was shut down, too.

I admired the looming clouds on the horizon; it looked like somewhere west-ish of us was getting some much-needed rain.  It blew right past us on my three-minute drive home, the auto-setting on the A/C prompting it on in the eighty-five degree heat.

I need to rest a minute, I thought to myself as I unloaded my purse inside the door and went to the bedroom to take off my nametag and unload my pockets.  I need sunlight, too, I added as I headed back outside to sit on the porch a bit.  Sometime during that short walk from door to bedroom to porch, I made a SMART goal for myself.

Fifteen minutes of sunlight a day.  I set the countdown timer on my Fitbit and the sun complied, popping out big and strong from the few clouds left behind, warming my face.  I closed my eyes and enjoyed the glow through my eyelids.  A Bewick's wren chirped loudly from across the street, then moved on down the road, its trill getting fainter as it called from each tree-stop.

I opened my eyes to see my husband's car pulling into the driveway.  Not long after he went inside, I felt the buzz on my wrist and followed. There was, after all, a cake to be baked and iced.  The sun'll come out tomorrow...

 

Evidence that I did, indeed, bake a cake.

SOLSC '25 Day Eleven: Carney Park, revisited

 

I am participating in The Two Writing Teachers' Slice of Life Story Challenge, writing every day during the month of March.  My theme this year is "Outdoors".

My brain craves connections.  I think that's why I enjoy being a librarian, connecting students and staff with books and resources.  That tendency toward connections also leads conversations down all sorts of rabbit holes.

Today's conversation started with an email from a publishing company that mentioned our country's age this year--250 years!  "That can't be right," I told my assistant.  "I remember celebrating the bicentennial at Carney Park when I lived in Naples."

Well, since I turned fifty-nine last week, the years really do add up. And so do the memories.  I first wrote about Carney Park in a 2020 SOLSC post, but it makes sense to revisit it, given my theme this year. 

A brief description:  Carney Park is a military recreational center that is uniquely located inside an extinct volcano.

Image courtesy of NavyMWRNaples

After doing a basic search, I was delighted to see that it is still in operation--and learned that it is as old as I am!

The thoughts that popped into my head, in addition to the ones from the previous post:

• the bicentennial tri-corner hat souvenir I got in 1976 (I just found one on eBay that validated my memory!)
• getting my Red Cross swimming licenses in the pool...and my brother slipping and hitting his chin on the edge, requiring stitches
• coolers filled with ice, soda, beer, and bologna sandwiches
• Italian ice cream from the convenience store
• the "vibe" of the whole family feeling relaxed and having fun

I wasn't much of the outdoorsy type even back then, but I enjoyed my playtime in the fresh air and sunshine as much as any kid does.  Carney Park will always be a happy memory for me.  And now my new library assistant knows that I saw streakers as a child....