Long days, bright sun

I'm getting this in under the wire since I have no other entries for March. March is the cruelest month, a time of weather extremes--from blustery winds and snow to the monsoon style rains we've had in recent days. But that will be over tomorrow as April ushers in bright sunshine and mild temperatures.

Tonight was a writer's coffeehouse at the school where I teach. The young writers displayed poise, and impressive range in their pieces. I am proud of them for putting their work out there. It takes a lot for a young adult to get up on a stage and read a poem or work of fiction. I see growth in how they encourage each other, even coaching each other to breathe and slow down.

Outside the magnolia and forsythia are budding. I have the beginnings of daffodils in my garden. Nothing can remain the same. My students evolve as writers and the world around them opens up. Suddenly they see what they missed before--a homeless man standing outside the post office, a father teaching his young daughter to swim, changing skies. It's all there--the dark and the light, the necessary and the ignored. Sometimes I am a guide pointing the way. Other times I'm just looking out the window.