Writing Exercise, 6 words

Writing assignment Shakerag 6-19-23

6 words

4 minutes each

GREEN

Green grass

Green with envy

The green dress

The green car

Green is the color of my true love’s hair

Green is the color of most plants and tress

I tried to use clover in my print making project at Shakerag and it smeared, most things smeared except for the string

And the paper dolls I cut out, they stood tall, I thought to give them long strands of hair but the newsprint was too fragile, maybe with the harder stiffer paper

And I have a calendar of photos I wonder about printing on

Or cutting out the shapes of the photos

I don’t think that would work

I need positive and negative space

Maybe cut out leaves in paper instead of trying to print from the actual leaves

They are too 3 dimensional and prone to smear, too soft, not firm

Blades of grass drawn on paper and cut out and then used for making a print could work

I didn’t bring lace, just lots of cloth

I could pull that apart and print the frayed ends

SEAHORSE

My daughter loves seahorses

I didn’t know this except my granddaughter, her daughter, Julia, told me the saltwater taffy shop in Bodega Bay, California where they were also selling Christmas ornaments so we got my daughter a sea horse

I have never seen a living seahorse maybe in an aquarium. I wonder what their life span is and when they were given that name and what is their phylum and genus

And do they taste good fried

Like oysters and shrimp

No so much scallops they are better sauteed

Soft shell crab is good fried though

Claire makes incredible soft shelled crab and I gave one of them to Nell

Nell who expects me to attend her

And is sorry if I don’t

And blames me for being busy

Once I told her I am not busy

Busy is what she calls me when I am not with her

CHEMISTRY

Mr. Bates taught chemistry and physics in our high school in Old Hickory, TN and when I walked into his classroom I was immediately smarter.

At the time I didn’t quite identify that. I thought I liked the subject and liked him

And later, I saw that who he was was confident of his students no matter our performance and we rose to his expectations

I don’t imagine all felt this way and some did not perform

Though

I bet they did, how could they not

So raising your expectations shapes performance

Slowing down disapproval, albeit having it and sharing it

When the kid is too loud at the dinner table

But not for when she wants to put ranch dressing on her pizza

Why does that matter

Although you should remove the bottle of dressing and not have even bottles on the table other than that of a good wine

All other condiments belong in dishes even the catsup and mayonnaise and mustard

My mother was a stickler for a nicely set table.

WINDOW

At the opening evening, Claire announces to open your window if your room is too hot

And the same if it is too cold

However my window in a boy’s dorm

Says

In capital letters

“OUT OF ORDER

DO NOT OPEN”

So I asked for a fan when does quite well moving the air around

I suppose I could take a cold shower and lie down on my sheets with the fan blowing

And I would definitely cool off

I would like to cool off in the lake

But the only way in is jumping, no problem

The only way out is a ladder with rungs too far apart for bad knees

I wonder if I could be a donor to this campus to get the rung distance shortened

As you age, things are not organized for you

Like rungs on ladders

And steps

And how loudly people speak

I hear people say something

And everybody laughs

And the moment to ask

Asking spoils the joke

It loses something in the retelling.

Plus it calls attention to my infirmity

ENVELOPE

Chinese red envelopes for good luck, good fortune, for money, red is lucky

I received an envelope of a tax refund, hefty from the federal government, still waiting on the state, I can’t remember maybe I did receive it

I love these checks although I guess I could consider that I am paying too much tax in the first place to receive such a bonus

So the government earns interest on my money during the year as I pay taxes

Should I ask Venita or Kevin about this

It seems like straightforward bookkeeping is what she does and anything out of the ordinary, I am not clear about her answers

I need to call Barbara Huffman and take about my money and how long before and if I move to a cheaper place, the Pines, which is less expensive than living in a house, with

Cleaners,

Orkin

Pool people

Utilities

Mosquito people

Insurance and mortgage.

FINAL PUT IT TOGETHER

She set a nice table

The clover in my print making project at Shakerag smeared, most things smeared except for the string

I didn’t bring lace, just lots of cloth

I could pull that apart and print the frayed ends

Soft shell crab is good fried though

Mr. Bates taught chemistry and physics

when I walked into his classroom I was immediately smarter.

At the time I didn’t identify that. I thought I liked the subject and liked him