Well, two really lovely things happened today.

#1. It snowed. I am not kidding you. It wasn’t kind of whiteish sleet. It was big fat flakes and they fell for a long time. Most of it melted pretty quickly but there were snowballs thrown and everyone was laughing. Everyone. Not just kids but teachers and postmen and people at the grocery store.

And #2. I did writing workshops with 4th and 5th graders at a very sweet Young Author’s Day. There were quite a few high points, including the fact that we were given beautiful handthrown pottery bowls in appreciation of our participation. But naturally, the real shine was the kids and their work.

We talked about metaphors and how our job was to create a real image in our readers’ minds. And lo and behold. Kids are so original, unencumbered by the cliches that both tempt and haunt the rest of us.

Two boys, in particular, really blew me away. The first was not pleased to be there. He wouldn’t open his notebook and his arms were tightly crossed — until I checked in with him and he revealed that his puppy had died two days ago and he was "just having a bad day." The next thing you know, his arms unwrapped and he wrote about being:
 
"as thin as a penny/I could slip through cracks/I could be easily lost."

Mercy. I could hardly breathe.

Then, there was another little guy who had really severe dyslexia and disgraphia. I realized it quickly and I’m ashamed to say that I immediately went to worst case scenario. I worried that it was going to be really hard on me (to tend to him and all the others) and really hard on him (I imagined he’d be frustrated and maybe embarrassed.) Boy oh man was I wrong. I got the others started and squatted down next to him to see if he’d be willing to dictate a piece to me. Um, yeah. How about this? 

"I am as funny as a comic/or a cartoon character./I am as funny as a bug on a cane."

And that was only the first one. I think if I’d been willing to carry on, we might still be there. And he followed up by asking if he could share it aloud with the class. Like I said, blew me away.

Almost as much as the snow.
What sweet surprises….