HAPPY PI DAY

   Today is March 14, which makes it Pi Day 3.14.  It is also a day for writing poems about math, for baking pies and eating them.  Yum!

I HATE MATH

Math and me,
I don't do great.
It takes too long.
I'm always late.

My mom says things
I don't get her.
"Practice, Son
and you'll get better."

Not knowing math
does terrorize.
There are facts
I should memorize.


   How do you memorize things?  I know for me, the best place to memorize is in the bathroom.  When I was in fourth grade and needed to memorize, my teacher sent me out to the playground.  Somehow the rhythm of the swing helped set up a rhythm in my brain to be receptive to the things I needed to remember.  I frequently start at the end and memorize back from there.
   Do you have timed math tests and quizzes?  In third grade on Fridays, we'd have timed tests.  As soon as we were done, we were to put our tests on the teacher's desk and we could go out to play.  I was not good at this.  So as I frequently do, I redefined the rules.  I decided to write as neatly as I could.  I decided to check my work and show the proof.  Of course, I was the last to finish--but I did have every problem correct and had the neatest paper.  Do you ever "re-define" the rules?  What do you do?
   In the long run, this strategy didn't pay off because everyone thought I was bad in math.  If I'd just put in a little more effort, I could have been awesome.
   In fifth grade, there was a student Bruce Marcuson who memorized all the state capitols.  When we'd play a geography game, he'd always win.  Now that I know how to memorize, to remember 50 facts is easy.  If I'd only known that when I was young. 
   What can you do to exercise your memory skills today?  Is there a poem you want to learn?

   Your poetry challenge for today is to write a poem about your favorite kind of pie.  Have fun writing and memorizing.  Can you draw a pie to illustrate your poem?

  Here is another hibiscus I drew last week.  The hibiscus is Hawaii's State Flower.

Live now so you'll have great memories.

Asleep at the Wheel

I'm back after a three week course in Botanical Illustration.

  I learned a lot.  We used colored pencils and water color pencils to do our art.  I learned about plants, but I also learned about myself through doing the art. I learned some new techniques for drawing and coloring.  I learned that I don't particularly like the static-ness (Is that a word?) of plants.  I'd rather observe flowering plants in their natural habitat.  I also gained a great respect for the people who do botanical illustration.  Why someone would want to spend hours, days, weeks trying to get their picture to look like a photograph is beyond me though.
Here are the parts of a hibiscus flower.  This is Hawaii's State Flower.

 

It was interesting to take the flowers apart to see all of the hidden parts, but I hated ruining the pretty flowers.  I kept thinking of a Mary Oliver line from her poem This Summer Day, "Don't all things die at last, and too soon?"  And, I didn't like my role in making that 'too soon.'

   Can you find a flower, leaf, nut, fruit or plant to try drawing today? And when you are done, or while you are making your art, think of a poem to go with your picture.

I kept thinking of this:

FLOWERING TREES

Flowering trees sway
on a tropical isle,
watching them play
makes me smile.

   Maybe part of the reason I wrote a short poem about trees is because a friend, Mark Walsh (an emergency room nurse) challenged me to write a TREE poem.  He wants to start a poetry tag game with me.  I hope I am up for this.  Do you know how to play poetry tag?  One person starts with a poem and the person tagged plays off of that poem.  In this instance Mark might reply with a poem about flowers, growing, isles, tropics, or things that make him smile.  Who knows what his poem will be.  It could be something he writes or a poem from another poet.  Poetry Tag might be something you'd like to try with your friends.

Tomorrow, March 14 is PI Day (3.14), many people celebrate by eating pie.  What is your favorite flavor of pie?  Can you write a pie poem today to give to a friend tomorrow?  I think I'm going to try to bake a pie today.  Somehow it seems unfair.  I don't want to start my oven because it will make my house too hot and on the radio they announced New York City Schools will be closed tomorrow for a snow day.  If you live in Australia or south of the equator where it is summer season now, you know what I mean.  But if you live where it is snowing, all I can say is come visit me where we spend our entire year in shorts and t-shirts.  I do live in paradise.
 

National Pi Day

Happy National Pi Day
a me-oh-my day,
full of numbers day,
a most mathematical day.
Oh, what do you say?
Give a cheer.
Hip-hip-hooray
for National Pi Day.