Writing Challenges

Oh, we thought this little three-hour class would be a cinch. It was an opportunity to earn professional development credit hours so about fifteen of us strutted through the door, ready to learn we don’t have anything to learn. We thought, “Who needs room for improvement for sending simple e-mails?”

We laughed throughout the entire class because it was fun, especially to see a small group of autobody instructors putting together a decently arranged paragraph consisting of adjectives, subjects, nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, prepositions, interjections, phrases, indirect objects, and clauses. I didn’t have a clue as to what most of these terms meant. Really. I recognize the terms, heard about them, studied them, but didn’t know a phrase from a clause. Eeeks. Punctuation was a highlight, especially when we were asked to punctuate contractions and plural possessive nouns!

Does anyone remember sentence diagrams? I do. I liked them, probably because I’m a visual learner and I like to draw. They were pushed down our throats for years, to the point I would dream about them and draw them for fun. My Mom would recite a sentence and I’d diagram it for her. How’s that for an exciting evening at the kitchen table!

The Sisters in the Catholic schools I attended for twelve years were ruthless and mean when it came to teaching grammar and writing. Donna, a very kind teacher, uses a green pen for marking up papers but those Sisters of Providence and Notre Dame used red flairs and other humiliating tactics to whip us into shape.

I don’t think children are taught grammar and punctuation the same way anymore. Whenever I hear the question, “Where’s it at?”, I freak out, especially when I hear professionals say it. It’s kind of sad that I had great preparation for writing but can’t tell you what an independent clause is. I’m aware that I use old, tired clichés and too many commas. My worst writing habit is the consistent use of run-on sentences. I tend to add an "and" and keep going. And, what’s worse than that is I know I’m doing it! But don’t care. La Dee Da~

I had a horrible time writing my last post because I was paralyzed with new information. I mean, how many times can you recite a sentence in your mind and then have the audacity to type it as a run-on? It took me hours to write it and I was so disgusted that I nearly scrapped the whole thing.

So, here are a few photos that show how much I loved the cool weather this weekend. I will try to be a very good caption writer. Donna, have your green pen ready.

It’s been a long time since Chloe & Bella shared a sunny spot on the porch. After the daytime temperatures dipped from 95 to 78 overnight, we're all in shock.

Autumn is almost here but I have a feeling summer will continue for a while. Summer is my favorite season despite the horrible one we faced in 2007.

The bees are back. I didn’t even realize they weren’t around for a few weeks. Or, maybe there were here and I was just too hot to care.

No one knows how large the Koi are by looking at my photos. The largest ones are at least ten inches long and hefty enough for a fish dinner for two. They are rejoicing, too, after sinking in darkness for a few months.

The birds are active and gay now. I often wonder what they were doing when it was so hot. It was cool enough to attempt to get a photo of a Tufted Titmouse last night. I'll keep trying.

It’s good to see plump hummingbirds. They need to beef up for their journey…

If you haven't seen the best hummingbird photos, visit Ruth at Nature Knitter for a real treat. I've viewed her post several times!