Remembering...

I ran across this draft from about a year and a half ago that I forgot to finish.

I enjoyed reading it again so I decided it needed to be included here.

Whitney High School,

our Monarch Butterfly Station, Gym, Student Parking Lot

and Yellow Umbrellas.

It's been almost exactly a year and a half now that I retired from my 39 years of teaching

 the Visual Arts at Whitney High School.

I have so many wonderful memories,

but this has been an especially hard year for me personally.

Not just because of Covid and all the crazy politics going on,

that was an added challenge,

but because Whitney was my home from the age of 24 to 63.

I feel like I grew up there with my students in so many ways.

Leaving/retiring is finally getting easier to talk about without feeling overwhelming sadness and loss.

What do I miss the most?

It's not just one thing,

it's so many things.

My classroom was my safe space,

where I was in control... most of the time.

ha ha

Not only safe for me but for many of my students during their day.

Lunchtime was a haven for many.

The kids.

To be around them everyday kept me young,

 so vibrant and alive,

thinner (I averaged about 11000 to 15000 steps a day),

excited to teach and share my knowledge,

and to pass on the arts to so many generations.

Being inspired by the tremendous effort and creativity the kids put into their 

projects,

so much so that I would create future art assignments based on THEIR pieces.

I loved that creative thinking process figuring out those new projects,

then to prep them and make samples for the kids to become excited about.

Damn it was GOOD!!!

And I can't believe I'm saying this but I even miss the drive to and from Whitney.

Never in a million years did I think I would miss that!

The adrenaline in the morning racing to get there on time

 so I wouldn't be tardy and a bad example.

I don't think the kids ever knew how very difficult that was for me,

I lived so very far away.  

Or maybe they did

 as I would occasionally come racing in to open my classroom door

 from the parking lot just in the nick of time.

 And my trusty pullcart rolling noisely behind me,

and the jingle jangle of my school keys.

It was a solid 40-50 minute drive every morning.

A good hour if there was a sig-a-lert (sorry spelling?).

And the drive home in bumper to bumper traffic, 

that actually became too relaxing.

  I'd go so deeply into Right Brain 

that in my older years I'd occasionally fall asleep in my car,

but only for a second!

That was scary.

But as I'm thinking and writing about it now I think what I really miss the most

is making a difference in these young people's lives.

Contributing and sharing,

bringing joy into other's life,

making the kids laugh and smile.

That was the best!!!!!

I took a lot of pix before I left,

many that I haven't shared yet.

I hope you will be patient with me as I share them every so often here on my blog.

The pictures above are from our Monarch Butterfly Station

that was first planted back in the day (early 1980's I believe),

as a memorial garden for our beloved Science teacher (Bio & Chem),

Dave Reller whom the kids adored.

Check out Dave's 1980's Fro.

He was the first friend I knew who succumbed to AIDS.

He loved teaching so very much that he taught till the biitter end.

The kids and staff were devasted 

especailly because back then nobody really knew what AIDS was all about.

Dave truely made science fun to learn,

and he had the most wonderful dry sense of humor.

He was my next door neighbor and was super encouraging to me as a first year teacher.

He showd me great kindness.

 8th grade Science teacher Virgina Pooler took it upon herself with her students 

to put in that garden after Dave passed.

But sadly and not long afterwards,

 Virginia "Gin" passed from cancer and the garden fell into chaos

for many years.

Another devasting loss for Whitney.

Gin was another of Whitney High's favorite Science teachers (8th grade Science).

The kids worshiped her wisdom in all things,

and she was the most honest adult they had ever been taught by.

You can read more about Gin here.

In this past decade, 

 another favorite Science teacher (A.P. Biology) and Whitney High Alum,

Aileen Palmiter Perry,

who I featured recently (scroll down)

 took the garden under her wing and brought it back to it's current glory

(the pix you saw above)

She actually formed an Ecology and Wildlife Club for the students and they all pitched in.

Aileen's favorite teacher when she attended Whitney was Gin Pooler,

who we still talk about to this day. 

Thank you Aileen and your students

 for all the hard work you've put into making it beautiful again, 

and for keeping the memories of Dave and Gin alive!

Aileen is here with the love of her life and husband of 19 years,

Andy,

who also teaches at Whitney.

His specialty is History 

and currently he's teahing AP Psychology and Economics.

The two of them and their 2 boys have traveled the world together.

 Aileen is wearing her Xmas present from me,

and she has become an avid, obsessed knutty knitter like me.

YES!!!!

This is when I started the shawl a year ago December and gave you this tease.

It's so nice to be able to finally show off the finished product on beautiful Aileen.

BABIES IN THE GARDEN

Recently the tiniest nest appeared out of nowhere in my miniature Magnolia tree on our patio.

Even though I go outside almost everyday to watch my plants grow

and to see what's new in the garden,

I didn't even see the mama hummingbird building her nest.

Would have loved watching that!

She laid two eggs and sat on them almost constantly for a good two weeks.

She didn't like me climbing on the patio chair to peer into her nest,

but I did it anyways.

Even my husband was getting mad at me,

telling me to leave her alone.

But I wanted to see the babies so badly when they were first born. 

Here they are above.

Two days old,

It's hard to see them but their tiny beaks are facing to the left at about 8:30.

And here they are at about one week old.

They grew so very fast.

I didn't peek for another week because of the awful weather we were having,

and when I did they were gone.

I was so devastated,

I had no idea they could fly at such a young age,

so I googled them and found out they don't usually fly till about 26 days old.

Oh no,

did something terrible happen to them?

We don't have any cats in the neighborhood,

 but we do have coyotes that come into our complex some nights,

but that's a rarity.

We had a ferocious wind and rain storm the week I didn't go out and check on them.

Perhaps that were blown out of their nest then?

I will always remember them,

so very helpless.

I'm leaving the nest there for next year 

hoping that either the mama or one of her babies will remember it and return.

Not sure if they do that.

Any thoughts/ideas on the matter??

PLANT A GARDEN AND THEY WILL COME

Just had to show off this usual variety of Plumeira in all it's glory.

This is the one I posted a couple of weeks ago when the flowers just started to open.

It stops me every time I enter the house.

And another friendly butterfly following me as I watered at the cabin.

This one let me get even closer so I was able to touch it.

It's the little things in life that make me giddy.

SUMMER BEAUTIES

I get so jazzed every summer when these gorgeous looking and smelling lilies open up.

And they just keep multiplying every year which is another added bonus!

This year they drew the most ginormous butterfly

who flew into each flower.  

She wasn't afraid of me and I was able to get really close for the shot below.

Then she traveled with me as I made my watering rounds at the cabin

(taking me 3 hours to water the entire place this summer).

This will sound crazy I know,

but I'm pretty sure it was my dear Aunt Elena dropping by for a visit.

Every Easter she would bring me a pot of lilies.

So many wonderful memories come back to me as I post. 

 And below are a special variety of Plumeria that I got about 3 years ago with my son

at an extrodinary nursery by his home in Canoga Park called the Green Thumb.

I had never seen this lovely apricot color before while in Hawaii,

only the white/yellow and the pink/yellow.

It was just a baby stick when I bought it

and after 3 years it's the first time it's bloomed.

I thought I'd lost it earlier in the year when all the leaves fell off.

But it's come back strong this summer with more flowers to open soon.

Makes my heart so happy!

VIRGINIA POOLER MEMORIAL GARDEN

Many students and staff have tried and failed to keep this garden going

in memory of our beloved 8th grade science teacher Virginia (Gin) Wildman Pooler.

She taught at Whitney from 1976 to 2000,

and was a favorite of all our students.

Cancer took her way too early.

You will find the Memorial Garden at the South entrance to our school 

and the students pass it every morning on their way in.

It is especially lovely right now because of the care senior Saumitra Kelkar has put into it

with Advisor and Science teacher Aileen Perry,

one of Gin's former students.

The plans for this garden were formulated in 2014 

and planting started last school year in 2015.

Saumitra wanted it to be a Wildlife Garden for Butterflies and Hummingbirds,

something Gin would have loved.

Saumitra has been so successful 

that this garden has been certified by the University of  Kansas as a Monarch Waystation.

Everyday we see so many beautiful butterflies coming in and out 

as well as hummingbirds galore.

It is also a refuge for wasps, insects and lizards.

The Loquat Tree is the only surviving plant that was left in this garden when Saumitra took over.

It's fruit is ripe and ready for picking.

I may have swiped a few the other day.

Delicious!

This last week we had a delightful surprise. 

The students counted 15 caterpillars munching down on several of the milkweed plants.

They decimated them in one day and then disappeared.

I was able to capture them while there were a few leaves left on the plant.  :)

They were huge and so vividly striped.

A close up of the wildflower seed mix that Sametra spread throughout the garden.

And an even closer look at the variegated nasturtiums that grab my eye every time I walk by.

Saumitra knows the Latin and common names for all the plants in his garden.

He told this is Lupine and one of his favorites.

These are just starting to pop up and bloom.

The best part about this garden 

is that other students have started to become interested in tending this garden with Saumitra.

Everyday on my way to and from the office I see kids looking for bugs,

waiting to see if a certain flower has opened,

helping with the watering and weeding.

It has become a community effort.

Thank you Saumitra.

I know Gin would love it and given it her blessing.