Cynthia Lord's Blog, page 86

Sigh

My daughter is in the Virgin Islands right now as part of a college science class.  She's taking data on sealife.  I sent her a text message a few days ago and asked if she'd seen any doctor fish (which was the only fish I could remember from her list).

"Lots of doctor fish," she texted back, "and two barracuda!"



Why?  Why do our children tell us these things? 

From my Mail

Today, I made a small dent in my pile of mail to answer.  Here are some lines from kids' mail that made me smile or touched me.



You are one of my favorite authors, and you are at the top of that list. --Lydia

I've always wanted to be a writer and illustrator, but I might also be a veterinarian. --Kaitlyne

I was wondering what it is like having a son with autism? The reason I ask is because I have a cousin with autism and I wanted to see how different it is between them (If it's not a bother to you). --Mercedes

How famous are you?  --Faith



I have found yellow pieces of seaglass and purple pieces before. I was wondering if you have ever found any of those colors? --Owen

I am writing to you because I am reading your book, Rules. So far, I love it. --Ashley

Also, after seeing how you write, I think you would be good at writing mysteries. --Ramsay 
 
Hot Rod Hamster is now one of my favorite books. It has inspired me to write you a letter kindly asking for a second book.  --Nathan



How many kids do you have?  I don't have any because I'm only ten. --Allie

My favorite colors are blue and bright magenta. What are yours?  --Haley

When I found out about your new book, Touch Blue, I was the first to get it!  --Katie

How is Milo?  --Maggie

Five Things on a Friday

1.  I had a great visit with the 6th Graders at Whisconier Middle School in Brookfield, Connecticut on Wednesday.  Rules is one of their core books, and the kids had great comments and they asked such thoughtful questions.  Thank you to the PTO and all the staff for making my visit a wonderful experience. 

And they asked me if I'd consider coming back next year! 

2.  I did bring an unintended souvenir home from Connecticut, though.  I have a spring cold.  But my next visit isn't until Wednesday, so I have time to get over it before heading out again.

3.  My dad is in the hospital.  The doctors think he might have pneumonia, but he's doing better since going to the hospital.  I'm sending you lots of love and good thoughts, Dad.  I stopped to spend the night with my mom in Massachusetts on my way home from Connecticut.   It was so nice to be there--and we watched the Red Sox win!

4.  It's been raining forever!  Or maybe it's just been a week, but it feels like forever.  On the other hand, watching the floods of the Mississippi on the news, I can't complain. We have our home. 

5.  I feel guilty about the pile of kids' mail that I haven't answered yet. . .that's going to be my job for the next several days.

Saugatuck Elementary School

    It's raining in Connecticut, but inside Saugatuck Elementary School in Westport there was so much sunshine!  The kids were so friendly and the teachers and staff were so nice.  I felt very welcomed! 

Look at how one of the fifth grade classes who had read Touch Blue had decorated the library doors! 



And the K-3rd grades were very excited about Hot Rod Hamster!



I loved seeing the kids' drawings of the characters!

  

   

  


Thanks for a wonderful day! 

Hello from Connecticut!

I'm in the Nutmeg State doing three days of school visits.  Today I spent the day at Fairfield Woods Middle School in Fairfield, which was great fun!  I spoke about Rules and Touch Blue to all the 8th, 7th and 6th graders. 

And tomorrow, I'm doing Hot Rod Hamster with K-3 and Touch Blue and Rules with 4-5 at Saugatuck Elementary School in Westport. 

It's supposed to rain the whole time I'm here, so tomorrow afternoon when I'm done, I think I might visit the Norwalk aquarium to see the seals and penguins and these lobsters.



Here's a weird lobster fact:  blue, orange, and calico are all rare lobsters, but the rarest lobster of all. . . .is a white one. 

A flight of cormorants

Yesterday was a gray day here, but the cormorants were out in full force just below the dam--so the fishing must've been good.  There's a bit of description in Touch Blue that I always think of when I see cormorants (or shags as they're also called here).

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Off starboard, a flight of cormorants huddles together on a ledge. Pitifully holding out their wings to dry, they look like a funeral group, all dressed in black with their arms out. Like they’re begging heaven, “Take me instead.” 

“Do you think God ever makes mistakes?” I ask.

“Mistakes?”

“Like not giving cormorants enough oil to make their wings waterproof, so they have to stand there and dry them?”

Dad slows his rowing. “I wouldn’t venture to speak for God, but maybe cormorants are the lucky ones.”

“How so?”

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“They have to stand still in the sun awhile every day,” he says. “Not such a burden when you look at it that way. Might do some people well to stop running around and stand still awhile, too. Think so?”

I nod.

A Sunny Day

My writing house, known as "Walden Backyard." 

Though I'm sorry to be missing NESCBWI this weekend with my New England writer friends, my daughter is home for a few days between college sessions.  It's been nice to spend time with her, to dig in the dirt, and to just enjoy springtime. 


The Lion King surveys his territory.

Tomorrow, I leave for three days of school visits in Connecticut (Brookfield, Westport, and Fairfield), and today I'm bringing my daughter back to school for her science class that will be held in the Virgin Islands. She will be taking data on fish and sealife.


Our yard is full of purple and white violets.  John always gives me a few weeks of them before he mows.

But yesterday was sunny and peaceful and slow--a nice change from the rain and the busy-ness.

Five Things on a Friday

 

1.  Thank you to Woodside Elementary School in Topsham, Maine for a great day yesterday!  I read Hot Rod Hamster to the first grade and presented on Rules and Touch Blue with the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades.  I had many nice moments, but the one that's in my heart this morning was a third grade girl who came up to me afterward and told me that she has an older brother with autism.  I had met him earlier in the day.

"I'm going to ask my mom to buy Rules for me," she said. "Where can she get it?" 

I always bring an extra copy of each book, in case I make a mistake signing one. So I reached into my bag. "Here. You can have this one." 

The look on her face as I signed it to her. . . well, it made us both happy.


2.  I'm so sad James went home on American Idol.  He's the one I looked forward to every week!  I'm sure that he'll have big opportunities as a result of being on the show, but selfishly, I'll miss hearing him.


3.  Thank you to the librarians of Wyoming for putting Touch Blue on the Wyoming Indian Paintbrush list for next year.  That's Touch Blue's sixth state list.  Yay!

 
L-R: Roy Bird (Kansas Center for the Book Director), Riley Brennan (Level 2 winner), Romila Santra (Level 1 winner),
Kansas Governor Brownback, Robert Brian Ludwig (Level 3 winner), Jo Budler (State Librarian)

4.  Congratulations to Romila Santra, a fifth grader who won the Kansas Letters About Literature contest with a letter to me!  Here is Romila's state winning letter. 


5.  I'm going to plant some things. . . the general rule of thumb in Maine is to wait for Memorial Day, but I'm impatient! 

Less than 3 months now. . .

 

Deer Isle-Stonington Elementary School

 
  My morning yesterday started off with breakfast at the Harbor Cafe in Stonington.  It's a wonderful place that serves around 10 kinds of homemade pie and the waitress calls you "dee-ah."

In the cafe, I was surrounded by a few older, retired lobstermen who made me smile many times as they chatted about the weather ("Today's okay, but yesterday had "a bit o' roll"), the younger fishermen's choice of boats ("Got such a wide back. It'd be good for setting out, but I wouldn't wanna drag it around the rest of the year"), and government regulations.  There was quite a bit of swearing with that last topic.  :-)

But right across from me was a huge photo of a blue lobster one of the local fishermen had caught.  It felt like a good omen, and I bought a card of the photo to take home.  

All around this area, you see the powerful influence of the ocean.  The school sports teams are the "Mariners."  One of the churches is named for "St. Brendan the Navigator."  The high school has a Marine Resources Program.

But it's also a place with a rich artistic community and heritage. Everywhere I turned at the school, I saw art that had been done by local artists and by the kids.

  
  
    

I presented on Hot Rod Hamster with the younger grades and Touch Blue with the older ones.  I loved these "shadow boxes" the 7th graders had made.  Each box shows something from the book but also had to include "a touch of blue."

Here's a peek inside a few:

  
The ocean at night.                                                                                       Aaron, Tess, and Libby playing Monopoly.

  
Catching the blue lobster.                                                                           The attic window.

Thank you to the staff and students at Deer Isle-Stonington and to Island Readers and Writers!