Tag: #teaching

The Library

Posted on September 13, 2022 by JANET L BARKER

This is the third time I’ve been to the Cambria Public Library on my trip to nowhere, my pause, before the next step. I am surrounded by masters. I am in a sanctuary of accomplished and one-hit (maybe) wonders and writers who got their… Continue Reading “The Library”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #California, #cambria, #cambriapubliclibrary, #education, #grandparents, #hope, #love, #loveeverymoment, #retiredteacher, #retirement, #teachers, #teaching, #thewriterslife, #travellingwithdogs

Sound of Silence

Posted on September 12, 2022 by JANET L BARKER

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The campground is still. Everyone cleared out early this beautiful, drizzly, grey morning because of last night’s downpour. I can’t blame them. I did the same thing, breaking camp at record speed from the primitive campground I was able to secure at the last… Continue Reading “Sound of Silence”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #California, #eberlewines, #education, #grandparents, #hope, #love, #loveeverymoment, #pasorobles, #rangelandwines, #retiredteacher, #retirement, #teachers, #teaching

Week Three Without a Home

Posted on September 8, 2022 by JANET L BARKER

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I don’t know why I’ve been avoiding this. Writing. Figuring things out. The Scary Silence. The deadline-less lifestyle. The lack of traffic and noise. The simple, simple life I lead. Surely, in this floatation passage of Week Three Without a Home I have figured… Continue Reading “Week Three Without a Home”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #beachlife, #California, #cambria, #education, #grandparents, #hope, #love, #loveeverymoment, #retiredteacher, #retirement, #teachers, #teaching, #thewritinglife, #writers

The Journey

Posted on June 3, 2022 by JANET L BARKER

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PREFACE Today is my 66th birthday. In 14 years, I might be dead. Gruesome, I know. But my dad, 14 years hence my current age, had open heart surgery at 80 and my mom, she died in her 60s–my age, I believe. So, there you… Continue Reading “The Journey”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #California, #eberlewine, #education, #grandparents, #growingold, #hope, #loveeverymoment, #maryoliver, #parentofadultchildren, #retiredteacher, #retirement, #sellingthefamilyhome, #teachers, #teaching, #thenextchapter, #wisdom

Love and loss

Posted on May 30, 2022 by JANET L BARKER

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It is, without debate, a glorious Sunday before Memorial Day. Low 70s, slight breeze, monarchs dancing in the misty currents, absence of sirens from the Hermosa Beach Fiesta festivities, skywriting planes overhead, two impending offers on my house, another showing later this afternoon, and… Continue Reading “Love and loss”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #California, #coronavirus19, #education, #grandparents, #hope, #loveeverymoment, #memorialday, #retiredteacher, #retirement, #teachers, #teaching, #texas

Writing is Prayer

Posted on February 17, 2022 by JANET L BARKER

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Some people kneel. Some people chant and sing. Some people bow their heads and cup their hands. To me, writing is prayer. It’s the way I connect. It’s the way I listen. It’s the way I distract my mind with lists and events and… Continue Reading “Writing is Prayer”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #annefrank, #cambria, #change, #faith, #grandparent, #hope, #love, #loveeverymoment, #prayer, #redondobeach, #retiredteacher, #retirement, #teaching, #writing, #writingisprayer

Tsunami Watch

Posted on January 15, 2022 by JANET L BARKER

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Sitting in a rocking chair at my sister and cousin’s house watching the unpredicted rain, feeling the silent crisp air, gazing at the flock after flock of seagulls headed out to sea. Do they know something we don’t know? Will the tide retreat? Will… Continue Reading “Tsunami Watch”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #California, #coronavirus19, #grandparents, #hope, #love, #loveeverymoment, #retirement, #teachers, #teaching, #tsunamiwatch

Babies, Toddlers and Life in the Big City

Posted on December 5, 2021 by JANET L BARKER

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It’s hot. It’s cold. I’m sweating in the overheated apartment or I’m freezing on a jaunt to the Queens Farm Museum with two-week-old Hudson and 20-month-old big sis, Millie. I’m limping with a sore left knee that doctors here need a referral to fix… Continue Reading “Babies, Toddlers and Life in the Big City”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #California, #daughters, #education, #grandparents, #hope, #legacy, #loveeverymoment, #newyorkcity, #nyc, #Queens, #retiredteacher, #retirement, #teaching, #wine

Meet you in Manhattan

Posted on November 20, 2021 by JANET L BARKER

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An Uber driver galloped through 5 a.m. Saturday traffic to Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan. Those iconic, fairy tale lights that define NYC’s skyline felt like coachmen escorting us–Mommy Katie, Dada Jason and Grandma JanZ—to Cinderella’s ball. It was surreal, like a scene from… Continue Reading “Meet you in Manhattan”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #grandparents, #grandsons, #hope, #HudsonRiver, #loveeverymoment, #newbaby, #newgrandparent, #newparents, #nyc, #proudgrandma, #retiredteacher, #retirement, #teaching

Violence in the Playground

Posted on November 17, 2021 by JANET L BARKER

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Millie is once again used to me. After a few short months of separation between her longterm Spring/Summer staycation in Southern California with Mommy and Gma, she kinda forgot me. At 20 months, it’s to be expected. It was clear over the course of… Continue Reading “Violence in the Playground”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #grandparents, #IloveNYC, #leanintolove, #Queens, #retiredteacher, #teachablemoment, #teaching, #toddlers

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