Judy – Page 173 – Dear Liza

Missing Portland

K and J at night .jpg — **You two goofballs!**

Dear Jasper and Kestrel,

The weather here in Salinas has been rainy and cool, making me miss dear Portland even more. This is nothing against my family here, my school or my colleagues. Everyone and everything is lovely. It’s just not my home anymore.

I miss, of course, Auntie Bridgett and Grandpa Nelson. They are buying our new home in our favorite neighborhood, and even looking at new furniture to go in it. They have promised not to buy anything until I get home, but still… I am here and they are there.

I miss you and your mommy. I have just started to get to know you, and now I am here, and you are there.

I miss the trees. Seeing the old trees cut down on Central Avenue in Salinas last weekend drove this home. Central Park has also lost many of its big trees, either to wind or disease. It feels naked. Laurelhurst Park in Portland, with its gigantic 100 year old maples and Douglas firs, is a peaceful forest right in the neighborhood. I miss its calm and cool spaces and the friendly folks and dogs you find there.

mossy stepping stone.jpg — **Mossy stone**

I miss the moss. Without the constant moisture, Salinas sidewalks, garden walls and garages are lacking the soft green and are painfully clean scrubbed. There seems to be no history, no built-up memories. Everything seems too new, even being 150 years old this year.

I miss the variety. Within blocks in Portland you can find a vegan bakery, organic ice cream, sushi, Spanish, and Hawaiian food, as well as three different art galleries, a museum, four micro-brew pubs, pinball, and small live and movie theaters. Salinas is too small, and too familiar, to be intriguing anymore.

I guess this is my melancholy love letter to Portland.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Bird Wars

Dear Jasper and Kestrel,

It is spring, and all the birds are getting ready. Here at Uncle David’s house, there are two different groups of birds, and it gets interesting.

Over the back patio and the front porch are small areas of roof that are totally sheltered from the wind and rain. Each isn’t much bigger than a loaf of bread, but every spring they become home to several nests of birds….bluejays in the front, robins in the back. Uncle David calls it the Bird Wars.

The wars start in late February, when the birds start collecting twigs and grass for their nests. The blue jays will be in a bush collecting bits, and a robin will fly in. Whoosh! All the jays fly out in a blue cloud. When the robins are done, a jay flies in and the robins create a reddish-brown flurry as they fly away. The birds never seem to fight each other, but there is a lot of bird-language yelling going on. I have no idea what they are saying to each other.

Once the nests get built, the baby birds come, peeping all day long, front and back. I look forward to the noise! Baby birds sound like spring, hope, and life.

In addition to the jays and robins, there is a flock of sparrows that flies around. They fly to a bush and then hop around on the ground underneath, eating bugs and tiny seeds. The blue jays and robins ignore them, as though the sparrows were too small to be part of the bird wars.

There is also a crow who is making a nest in the tall eucalyptus tree behind an apartment building. The other day I saw her (or him, I can’t tell with crows) snipping little bits of branches from a curly willow and letting them fall to the sidewalk. There was quite a patch by the time I noticed. I am guessing the crow will come back later and collect the twigs to make her nest.

This is a good neighborhood for birds. The lawns all have lovely worms, the schoolyard has leftover sandwiches and chips, and the eucalyptus and palm trees are like bird condominiums. In the morning and evening, the trees seem to be shouting at each other.

crows twigs on sideak — **Crow’s collection of twigs**

Love,

Grandma Judy

Pink Shirt Day Irony

Dear Jasper and Kestrel,

This past week we had Pink Shirt Day at school. Pink Shirt Day is a day where we wear pink shirts and have programs and lessons about not bullying other kids. It was started years ago when a boy wore a pink soccer shirt to school and some other boys bullied him about it. Some of his friends went out about bought a bunch of pink tee shirts and they all wore them. The bullies had to give up because they were out numbered and bullies only like to pick on one person at a time.

So, on Pink Shirt Day, I borrowed a pink shirt from Auntie Olga and wore it to school. The Student Leadership group brought small paper shirts to the classes and showed us a video about working against bullying. It was good to see my students come up with so many ways to stop bullying! “Stand with kids who are being bullied.” “Ask new kids to play with you.” “Tell a grown-up.” Kids who defend those being bullied are called “upstanders”, because they stand up for the kids. It is good to be an upstander!

The irony is that in the middle of all this focus on not bullying, two of my boys were teased very cruelly by their friends…. and their friends were in Student Leadership. Apparently, knowing how to stop someone else from bullying doesn’t keep you from being a bully.

It started when a friend thought of something clever, but mean, to say to my student. He said it, and his friends laughed. My student didn’t like it, but these were his friends, so he laughed, too. Then everyone was saying it, because it made them laugh, and all of a sudden my student had half a dozen kids saying the mean thing over and over, and laughing. It felt awful. He came back to class crying.

Fortunately, we have good grownups at our school who saw what was happening. They called the kids aside and talked to them, and had the kids talk to each other. The kids who had been mean saw that they hadn’t been playing, but bullying. Playing is when everyone is having fun. Bullying isn’t. Apologies were made and friends, mostly, were forgiven.

By the next day, it seemed that everyone was friends again, but it was a real lesson about human nature. We need to practice kindness everyday until it becomes our natural response. We need to practice on our children, teachers, parents, pets and house plants. We need to nurture and care for each other, not say things that will hurt others, and hold on to the connections between us.

It’s always been true, but more than ever, that teaching is less about curriculum and more about growing good people. It’s hard work.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Return to the Library

Dear Jasper and Kestrel,

If it’s Sunday, there’s an adventure. Today Auntie Olga, Cousin Liza and I had our walk to the Steinbeck Library, to return our due books and get some new ones. Cousin Liza had read through “No, No, Word Bird!” and was ready for a new story with words she could read (mostly) on her own.

We packed cheese, fruit, and granola bars for our snacks along the way. It was warm and sunny after being chilly in the morning, so I just took my light jacket. Auntie Olga loaded her backpack with fleeces and hats I was sure we wouldn’t need.

off to adventure.jpg — **Off to Adventure!!**

We were just a few blocks from home when Cousin Liza stopped and stared at a flower in the parkway. “Let’s leave the flower here, Liza,” her mommy said. “It will grow and stay for everyone to enjoy.” Liza just stared at the flower. Olga and I walked away, and Liza picked the flower! I was upset and Liza could see it on my face. I held out my hand, she gave me the flower, and I set it down on a nearby tree stump.

Liza staring at flower.jpg — **Liza staring at the flower**

We had a talk about being on the same team and needing to cooperate to get where we wanted to go. I gave her the option of going back home with her mommy, but she decided to continue on the adventure, and was fine after that. On our way, we saw our friend Wiley Reeves, a teacher who retired this past year. He has been enjoying traveling.

Liza swing.jpg — **Just keep swinging, just keep swinging…**

We walked east on Acacia and turned to walk on Clay street and found the tiny but pleasant Clay Street Park. It has a bench in the sun and a wonderful play structure that matched Liza’s coat colors of pink, purple and teal. Liza practiced swinging and pumped by herself! It will take lots of practice, but she will learn. Once we had a snack and rested, we continued to the John Steinbeck Library!

On the east side of the library was another of the big boulders with a quote from John Steinbeck. It said, “Books are the best friends you can have, they inform you and entertain you, and don’t talk back.” Very fitting for the lawn of the library, I think. Liza and boulder.jpg

After some playtime with another little girl, we found the books for this week. Happy Birthday, Word Bird!, a few Eric Carle books, and a Russian Folktale book that Auntie Olga wanted, and a science book about water. We saw Mark Vinas, a teacher who retired the year your mommy was 10 years old. He is still charming and just a bit old fashioned, since he is 87 years old! We chatted for a while and headed home.

The Salinas wind had come up and it got cold! I was now grateful for Auntie Olga and all her extra jackets. She loaned me a fleece to wear under my jacket and she found an extra hat to put under her hood. We zipped up Liza’s puffy jacket and pushed through the wind all the way home, and happily took naps.

After dinner Liza and I used some fabric I had, a decoration (made by Auntie Bridgett) from a favorite tee shirt from Grandpa Nelson’s sail boat, and made a pillow for her dolls! It was a quick, fun project. Off to bed now.

Love, Grandma Judy

Goodbye, Old Trees!

Dear Jasper and Kestrel,

Salinas is an old city, as I was reminded of yesterday at Salinas History Day. It is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year, and some of the houses still standing were built in the 1890s, over 100 years ago. Back then, Central Avenue was a street lined with expensive, fashionable, Victorian style houses; two story wooden houses with pretty gingerbread details and delicate paint jobs. Central Avenue was also home to hundreds of trees, planted when the neighborhood was new.

In recent and not-so-recent years, these trees have gotten too big for their parkways. Their roots have cracked sidewalks and lifted them up to 45 or 50 degree angles, making walking hazardous, especially for the elderly. On walking field trips, when crossing University at Central, I always directed my students to cross the street and continue “until the big tree, you’ll know it when you see it.” And they did.

pile of chips.jpg — **Pile of chips from ancient tree**

But not anymore. As I was walking to Roosevelt School yesterday, my path was blocked by a pile of wood chips on the sidewalk, marked with caution tape, and a BIG place where the tree was NOT. This carnage was recent…I could smell the fresh wood. I stopped and stared. How could it be gone? I took some pictures and continued on my way, thinking about how long that tree had stood there, how many field trips it had seen, how many birds had called it home.

As I continued west on Central, there were more…dozens of trees, some four feet in diameter, no longer there, damaged sidewalks removed, sand laid down for pouring new ones. The destruction was systematic and thorough.

I noticed evidence of the damage the trees had caused…streets and driveways uplifted and distorted, pipes damaged, branches that had grown through power lines, still dangling when their trees were gone. I know why the city arborists needed to remove the trees. I understand, really. But I will miss them, anyway.

I also noticed a pattern. Magnolia trees were mostly left intact, with just their invasive roots trimmed when the sidewalk was removed. Are the magnolia trees younger? Are they more amenable to having their roots trimmed than other trees?

There was a spot where the repairs had been completed and the sidewalk was clear and fresh. I am sure the people who walk down Central everyday to get groceries or to walk their children to school will appreciate the easier path. And I hope they remember the old trees fondly, as I will.

Love,

Grandma Judy

new sidewalk.jpg — **Fresh, safe sidewalk**

History Day in Salinas

Dear Jasper and Kestrel,

This morning I woke up and walked to Roosevelt School to attend and help out with the first Local History lecture series. My friend and former Principal, Mary Randall, had organized this group of historians to talk about Salinas of the past, and have some fun, too. There were lots of cookies brought by the Women’s Club, including some celebrating the Claus Oldenberg Statue called Hat in Three Stages of Landing. Delicious!

hat cookies at History.jpg — **Hat Cookies**

Before the lectures started I met old friends Larry Smith, who works as a docent at the First Mayor’s House, and Ruth Muldoon. Ruth taught kindergarten here in Salinas for about 35 years and now reads stories to third graders who visit the House. Liz Hibbard, another retired teacher, was there, and Rosalie, a wonderful lady who has worked with the Women’s Club for most of her many years. My School’s head custodian, Cesar, was there, too! Mary was his first principal and they are old friends, so he came. I also talked with Jeanne Garcia, who I worked with when I started teaching 30 years ago. I met Bingta Frankie, a new Board member at the First Mayor’s House. She looked so beautiful, I had to take her picture!

Bingta Frankie at History.jpg — **The Historic Fashions of Bingta Frankie**

Since we were gathered in the cafeteria of an elementary school, it felt natural to start off with the pledge of allegiance. Then Hannah Levi and Samantha Scattini, two lovely young ladies, sang a beautiful harmonic rendition of “My Country ’tis of Thee”. Patrick Redo was the master of ceremonies, and introduced former Mayor Dennis Donahue, a very nice man. He asked about Auntie Bridgett, because they are old friends. There was a mosaic (you know how I love mosaics) on the back wall that was from when Roosevelt School was very new, in the 1920s. It shows the Horse Parade, part of the Salinas Rodeo.

Sam Pacheco, who is a teacher at Hartnell College, talked about John Steinbeck. Sam is not from Salinas, but was drawn here by reading Mr. Steinbeck’s stories of the area. Rene Astorga played us music from the 1860s like Old Susannah and got us to sing along. We weren’t very loud, but we had fun.

Anita Mason unraveled the historic riddle of why the mighty Southern Pacific Railroad came across the muddy Elkhorn Slough and through tiny Salinas. Santa Rita had flatter, more solid ground, but the Spanish laws of inheritance, which were still in effect in California, made it almost impossible to sell land that had been part of a Spanish Rancho Land Grant. This was most of the land around Santa Rita. By the time the Railroad figured this out, the Salinas Valley was beginning to boom and they decided to come through the Salinas Valley to move all the grain, dairy and fruit growing here to the rest of the country.

Deborah Silguero gave a very interesting talk about women’s fashion of the 1860s, including all the interesting underwear! Very different from our clothing these days. Mary Randall talked about the schools and social life of the time, and Girl Scout Troop 30110 came and showed us all how to do the Virginia Reel, and got about 20 folks up to join the dance. It was fun, having grown ups and kids dancing together, making mistakes and smiling and trying again.

By the time the dancing was over, I was ready to head home again. What a great day of Salinas History!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Disney on Ice (Part 2)

Dear Jasper and Kestrel,

Our night at Disney on Ice kept getting better. The hockey arena, which I had expected to be cold, was very comfortable and friendly. The show was introduced by the Big Four: Mickey, Minnie, Donald Duck, and Goofy. Belle’s journey into the Beast’s castle was well-told, with a fine dance number performed by flatware and candlesticks.

This was when I realized that my camera was not catching any nuances of the characters. The bright spotlight turned the beautiful costumes into shiny bits moving about on the ice… this was disappointing, as so much of the delight of telling about the show is showing the show. I also realized that videos were more successful… but I can’t yet insert video into this blog. Blog fail, again. Sorry.

There was confusion in my story-telling soul as the show continued, because the writers had felt the need to frame the showcase of Disney characters as a re-telling of the story of another Disney character, Riley from Inside Out. True, this allowed all the different costumes and colors to make sense, but was also jarring… whatever fantasy world each character would take us to, we were pulled back into the very UN-fantasy world of feelings….Joy, Sadness, Fear, and Anger… the least nuanced, most obvious, and, truthfully, most irritating characters of all.

That said, I went along for the ride and was not disappointed. The combination of beautiful lighting and costumes, expert skating, great sound quality and classic stories carried me on a wave of Disney joy. Maleficent and her mirror from Snow White showed us good projection techniques. Ariel and Prince Eric did some amazing high-rope tricks, leading me to think “An Aerial Ariel”?

Jasmin and Aladdin satisfied my need for Olympic skating skills with all sorts of lifts, skips, and flips. Then Rapunzel and Flynn Rider raised the bar. A 60 foot long scarf, representing Rapunzel’s hair, dangled from the ceiling and the two skaters grabbed hold and flew, swirled, and counterbalanced each other in a terrifyingly beautiful routine. As we were still catching our breath, intermission was upon us.

Vendors wandered the aisles, selling plastic, light-up spinny toys starting at $15 and ranging to $30. We still didn’t feel the need. Luckily, the Sharks’ Zamboni provided a distraction.

The second half started with a long re-telling of Finding Dory. The costumes weren’t as successful as some, making the skaters look like fish-human hybrids in a weird way. Also, Hank the octopus seemed to be an oversized, remote-controlled Roomba, with little movement or character. I don’t know how I would have done it better, but it didn’t magic me.

Then came what all the little princesses had been waiting for: Frozen! The story was shortened to focus on the relationship of Anna and Elsa, with enough Olaf for pathos and Hans and Eric for romance.

frozen castle on ceiling.jpg The final number featured a self-driving bridge and an ice castle that unfolded from the ceiling. “Let it Go” rang through the arena as Elsa skated her heart out around the rink and up the staircase, nearly touching the crystal lights dangling from the ceiling. Hundreds of little girls and their mothers sang along. We were riveted.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Disney on Ice (Part 1)

Dear Jasper and Kestrel,

Last night Auntie Olga, Cousin Liza and I had such an adventure. We drove all the way to San Jose for dinner and a show! The dinner was at Bluefin Sushi, a very pretty and delicious Japanese restaurant. We had the sushi sampler and Liza ate all of her California Roll. Liza’s glass of apple juice came with lots of ice, which she hates, so Olga fished it out …with chopsticks! The idea of having too much ice on our way to and show on ice gave us the giggles. I opted for hot tea, which felt very good on my Friday-afternoon-teacher-tired throat.

The GPS in Auntie Olga’s phone had found the restaurant, so we let it guide us to the parking lot, as well. There were only about 15 minutes until the show started, so the lot was almost full. We got Liza into her full Princess Elsa finery in and beside the car…pink and blue winter boots, sparkly dress over her school clothes, and a long blonde braid. We joined the flow of tiny princesses and their (mostly female) guardians and headed down the sidewalk.

The lobby at the top of the impressive staircase was packed with people, souvenir booths, photo booths, and snack stands.

**Liza and I at the base of the Shark Tank’s steps**

We didn’t need any of it, so we high-tailed it to our seats. Having just come UP a long flight of steps, it made sense that we would go DOWN another, into the ice arena used by the San Jose Sharks hockey team and known as The Shark Tank. This evening it was less shark and much more princess…. magical lighting, mysterious sets tucked up on the high ceiling waiting their turn, and hundreds of spinning, sparkling, flashing lights on toys held by children.

I was amazed at how a hockey arena could be filled with light, lightness and color. Lights under the ice, moving light effects and music turned what is usually a noisy, collision-filled space with Disney magic.

I have been a Disney fan most of my life. The Disneyland Park opened when I was one, and I can’t count the number of times I have visited. I think I have seen every Disney movie at least once, and I can sing a frightening number of songs by heart.

Seeing this show reminded me of why I love Disney. The stories are about following your dreams, taking risks, and realizing your heart’s desire. True, in the 1950s the dream was finding your Prince Charming and holding on forever, but the stories have grown. They now encompass dreams of devotion to family, personal empowerment, literacy over ignorance, and embracing one’s different-ness. Mulan, Merida, Belle and Elsa are my heroes. And they were all on the ice in San Jose.

I will tell you more about the show tomorrow!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Reading!

Dear Jasper and Kestrel,

One of my favorite things to do here at Uncle David’s house is read books with Liza. She loves “If you give a Mouse a Cookie” and anything about dinosaurs. Lately she has been reading more to me!

She is learning letters and sounds at her school, and a few months ago she noticed OPEN signs on stores we could go in. Then she saw the same sign on the Steinbeck Library! We checked out books in the Word Bird Series, and she is enjoying recognizing some words and figuring others out.

word bird.jpg.jpg

She is starting to read everything! The other day she wanted more light in the kitchen so she found the remote control Uncle David made and read “…k…kitch…kitchen!” She pressed that button and turned the light on. She was so excited! I am sure she will be reading before she goes to school, just like your Mommy did.

In Uncle David’s house there are also books in Russian, which are gifts from Auntie Olga’s Mommy, Baba Alla. There are bright and colorful, but I can’t read them! I only know four letters in Russian, the four that spell “Liza”.

Russian book.jpg — **Beautiful Russian Book**

I don’t know if I will be able to learn to read Russian, but I am practicing speaking it.

“Liza, kudah tapitchki?” (Liza, where are your slippers?)

“Ya niz naito.” (I don’t know.)

“Na.” (Here)

There is sure a lot of learning going on here in Salinas!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Party in Prunedale

Dear Jasper and Kestrel,

Liza yard Thomas's.jpg — **Liza in a Fabulous Backyard!**

Yesterday Cousin Liza and I went to a party in the hills of Prunedale, just north of Salinas. Our friends Kitty Petruccelli, her husband Mike Godin, and their kids Isaac and Rhys were visiting from Florence, Massachusetts. They were staying at the very cool home of Thomas and Susanna.

Rhys trampoline.jpg — **Rhys on the Trampoline**

It was chilly there, though not snow-cold like up there in Portland, but the sunshine was so bright and the sky so blue, it felt almost unreal. When we got there, we saw Rhys, who is going-on-seven, jumping on the trampoline. Liza watched for a while, then climbed up and let Rhys bounce her, then got up her nerve and jumped very well. She was having so much fun!

Inside, the grownups were setting out delicious vegetarian food and talking. Along with our hosts there was Bill Minor, who plays piano and writes poetry, his wife Betty and their son Tim, who coaches high school track in Reno, Nevada. He and I talked about teaching and why we love being able to make a difference in kids’ lives.

Angela der Ramos, who I met, along with Kitty, at a writing class at UCSC in 2001, arrived and told us about her work with the teacher’s union and her run for the CTA board. She, too, is making a difference, but from further up the teaching/administrator/policy making food chain. Her energy and truth-telling is always amazing to me.

As the afternoon moved along, Liza found a sand pile in the yard and she and Rhys played there for a while, then Thomas started gathering firewood, and Liza helped him. She helped lay the fire in their new fire pit, just up the hill from the house. She has lots of practice from helping her daddy.

Liza Rhys sand.jpg — **Fun is Where You Find It!**

There is also a very nifty guest house, which used to be a barn. It has one room downstairs and one upstairs, connected by a ladder. Thomas showed Liza how to use the safety bar to get up and down. We liked looking out at the trees from the top floor. It was like being in a tree house.

Liza ladder Thomas's.jpg — **Brave Liza on the Ladder**

Once the fire was built, people started moving out to the yard. It was chilly enough that the fire felt good, but Thomas stayed in bare feet. My phone stopped working, so I have no photos of faces around the fire, which I was hoping to get. I also have no pictures of Kitty, Mike, Angela, or Bill…blog fail, sorry.

Liza Thomas firepit.jpg — **Liza and Thomas Contemplating their Fire**

When it got near bedtime, Angela gave us a ride back home and we had a late dinner of crab salad that Auntie Olga had made. Very tasty.

Then a little bit of Mary Poppins, and off to bed.

Love,

Grandma Judy