My Favorite Body Part poems

Today one of the teachers shared a lesson that builds self confidence while teaching students literacy skills. She shared poems from a book called The Best Part of Me by Wendy Ewald after talking a little about why she liked her smile. In groups, we read another example poem with its photo included and talked about what we noticed about how the poems were put together and what they inclued. Most focused on what the body part does more than what it looks like, with rhyme patterns, similes, and repetition to bring the practical uses to life.

When we tried out the lesson, I decided to write about my left knee, the one I've injured at least four times. The first left me with a large scar that dimples when I straighten my leg. It looks like a crescent moon waxing when I straighten my leg and waning when I bend it. The scar and the residual symptoms of three falls directly on the knee seem only painful, but they also remind me of moments in my life and places I've lived. That's what my poem is about (and may be shared when it's finished).

Intentionally Small Living

As a documentary version of a blog, Urban Living, Intentionally Small: Urban Living in North Carolina illustrates how an architect in Raleigh, NC, creates a sustainable lifestyle by choosing to downsize. To encourage both efficiency and green living, filmmaker and architect Nicole Alverez decides to rent a 300 square foot apartment above a dentist office rather than adopting the large house culture of most cities and suburbs around the U.S.

The documentary introduces Alvarez and her home, but it also provides a strong rationale for downsizing that takes the joys of everyday life into account. Alvarez's initial studio apartment was small but well-designed for her single lifestyle. Everything she needed was in reach in and outside the apartment. She could reach the sink and recycling bin from her kitchen table, for example. And she could walk to her architecture design firm.

As Alvarez explains in her blog,

"It was the first time that I could walk to a coffee shop, a few bars, a yoga studio, even my job. I  felt connected to my community in a way I never had before. I quickly realized that what I loved most about living in a small space was the way of living that inevitably followed. Less space meant less physical and mental clutter, and therefore more time to enjoy life."

After viewing the documentary and reading Alvarez's blog, I'm not quite ready to move out of my 1100 square foot house, but I am ready to give away and recycle some of my unnecessary belongings. As Alvarez suggests, "Living comfortably in a small space is all about editing out what you don’t need – both in your physical environment and your general lifestyle." Even in the 1170 square foot city house she now shares with her husband and dog, Alvarez embraces this advice. I'm willing to begin this editing process today. 

The Heat

All I can write about this week is the heat. The 90-degree days remind me of summers in Florida when Grandma Carnohan cut my sister and my hair and dragged us to Cyprus Gardens.

I loved watching the water skiers perform their routines, but the hikes through the park's rain forest turned my face red and my mood cranky.

I don't remember as much as I should about these visits, and maybe have reconstructed them because my sister and I look so miserable in the pictures on the Cyprus trails.

But some of the smells and sensations seem true. The rich wet and moss smelled like bitter root vegetables, scents of beets my mom tried to feed us.

Salty sweat rolled into my nose and lips in spite of my pixie hair; yet sweet gardenias and birds of paradise cut through the thick air like spoons of sugar in my tea.

Today I spend much of my time behind closed blinds but remember Grandma's adventure.

New Harmony, Indiana

 New Harmony was founded in 1814 by a group of 800 Pietists from Württemburg, Germany. The Harmonie Society, led by George Rapp, arrived in the United States in 1804, seeking religious freedom and establishing a community in Butler County, Pennsylvania. After ten years in Pennsylvania, the Harmonists purchased nearly 30,000 acres on the banks of the Indiana Territory’s Wabash River.

The Harmonists’ literal interpretation of biblical text, combined with their interpretation of current world events, led them to believe that a Second Coming of Jesus Christ was imminent. As a society and as individuals, they pursued Christian perfection through every aspect of their daily conduct. To that end, they created a highly ordered and productive community at New Harmony.

Within a year of the land purchase, the town founded by the Harmonie Society was platted by a professional surveyor. Between 1814 and 1824, the Harmonists constructed over 180 log, frame and brick structures in their settlement. The community was entirely self-sufficient, and produced a wide variety of goods that were recognized worldwide for their fine quality. Harmonist wares were sold throughout the United States and overseas in the British Isles, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany.

Through divine guidance, George Rapp sought a buyer for the entire town in order to facilitate their relocation back to Pennsylvania in 1824. He found a purchaser in Robert Owen, a wealthy industrialist of Welsh descent, who was operating a textile mill in New Lanark, Scotland.

In 1825, with his business partner, William Maclure, Robert Owen purchased the community of New Harmony, hoping to establish a model community where education and social equality would flourish. Maclure, a wealthy businessman and well-respected geologist, attracted many well-known scholars of the early 19 th century to New Harmony, including American naturalist Thomas Say; French naturalist Charles-Alexandre Lesueur; and Pestalozzian educators Joseph Neef, Phiquepal d’Arusmont, and Madame Marie Duclos Fretageot. Gerard Troost, a Dutch geologist, and Frances Wright, a Scots-born early feminist, were also drawn to New Harmony.

Robert Owen’s “Community of Equality,” as the experiment was known, dissolved by 1827, ravaged by personal conflicts and the inadequacies of the community in the areas of labor and agriculture. Despite the breakdown of his experiment, Owen’s utopian dream brought significant contributions to American scientific and educational theory, study, and practice. Owen’s efforts to effect change and enlightenment came to fruition through the work of his children in New Harmony and the young scientists and educators who came with William Maclure.