Remembrance Poppies: Book Launch Giveaway

Hello again, Readers, Writers, and lovers of History! My new book launch is just days away, and it's time for another post, giving YOU another chance at the giveaway prizes I've prepared. (If you don't know about the giveaway, details are down toward the end of this post.) Along with the other prizes, I was…

Marvelous Mountains and Marmots

Hello Readers, Writers, and Nature Lovers! Summer is winding to a close, and taking with it chances to explore the outdoors before school begins again. The Clare family decided to seize the sunshine last week and explore one of my favorite places in Washington—Mt. Rainier National Park.  This isn't the first visit to Rainer that…

Musical Interlude: “Lili Marlene”

It has been common for armies in history to adopt songs as their own- almost as "theme songs" for their particular group or war. War songs range in tone and topic from the American Civil War's "Battle Hymn of the Republic", to "Over There"-George M. Cohan's rally cry to American troops, to Britain's WWI "It's…

Musical Interlude: “Auld Lang Syne”

Can it really be New Year's Eve? My 2018 has moved past so quickly that I can hardly believe it's in its final hours, but my calendar tells me it's so. Ah well, we're prepared, with a stock of board games, junk food, and good intentions to make it till twelve o'clock. (And, if midnight…

Great Blue Heron

Teaching Creative Writing was an excellent excuse to play around a bit with concrete poetry. (i.e. poetry where the shape of the text can be as important as the words in conveying a message.) The text is below, in case it's to difficult to read, though I do like it less without the proper shape.…