Wednesday, December 31, 2008

A Visitor on New Year's Eve

We were surprised by a visitor this afternoon at the cabin!

A pileated woodpecker graced us with his presence. Male pileated woodpeckers are about 18-19 inches long and have a wingspan of about 30 inches. He is the largest woodpecker in most of North America - the ivory-billed woodpecker can be larger. (The ivory-billed woodpecker is rebounding from a close extinction.)

His song is breath-taking. You can hear a recording of one here. With his songs and the tap-tap-taps as he looked for insects within our sugar maple trees, he was his own orchestra!

This picture is not the best. Sorry! I had to take it through glass windows with a camera not really equipped for this kind of work. When I quietly went out onto the porch for a better shot, he ventured off to other trees deeper in our woods. I hope he returns!

Now, if I could only get the donut-hogging squirrels to skadaddle!

New Year's Blessings to Everyone

As I sit here at my computer on the last day of 2008, I reflect back on the year and its many opportunities and blessings. For me, the year has been full of delightful moments and soul-searching challenges.

I have been exceptionally busy this year writing seven children's books, guiding (and being guided by) thousands of students both online and in the classroom, carting my daughter around to her many learning and life opportunities, sharing memories with family and friends, and getting lost in the woods to snap picture after picture.

My end-of-year reflection could focus on the economic challenges that face each of us, our country, and the world. My reflection could focus on the long winter that still awaits us. (It is snowing here -- again.) My reflection could focus on the bills that have to be paid, the oil tank that will need to be filled once more this winter, the impending college tuition bills, and the juggling of time and funds to do everything that needs to be done (and that we wish to do).

Instead, I chose to focus on time, more specifically, the gift of time. My new year's resolution is to give myself that gift. More time to take long reflective hikes with the neighborhood dog. More time to practice my yoga and meditation. More time to get lost in books that others have written. More time to simply sit by the lake and stare into the open space and water. More time to make music on my Native American flute with the loons. More sightings of breath-taking great blue herons, young, mischevious beaver kits, shooting stars, and playful river otters. More time to watch the clouds dance and rainbows illuminate stormy skies. More time for me to stop and notice. More time for me to share with others what I have been blessed to see, hear, and feel. Yes, a bit selfish, but if I don't recharge and regroup, the rest won't happen. It can't.

So, I ask you, what gift will you give yourself this year?

I wish everyone the happiest of new years. May your year be filled with love, laughter, and an abundance of blessings. May you find yourself curled on the couch with a good book and a purring kitten. May you wander and allow yourself to get lost, if only for one brief moment. May your year be filled with creative moments, unbounded spirit, and music of the soul. May you focus on the good things that will find you (and you will find).

Today is your day. This year is your year. Make it everything you deserve it to be.

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Christmas Congrats to Belka!

Belka, one of my online Writing for Children students from Australia received a wonderful Christmas present in her stocking!

Her story about a fairy named Ashling will be published this summer in a children's magazine.

Congrats to you, Belka! Keepsa going!

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

'Twas the Night Before Christmas


'Twas the night before Christmas
And all through the house,
Not a creature was stirring,
Except for a mouse.

The kittens were nestled,
All snug in their bed,
As visions of catnip
Pounced through their heads.

When up on the cabin top
They heard such a clatter,
The felines did spring
To supervise the matter.

And what did they see
As they sprang up the stairs?
A fat, jolly man
With white beard and white hair.

Santa, they mewed,
Could it really be you?
Dear Junie and Ammy,
It is, it is true.

Good little kittens
I see you have been.
So I brought you some presents
With feathers and fins.

Toys for the chasing
And cans filled with fish
And a new fleecy pillow
To fill your last wish.

And as he departed
His white upon white
He sang to his reindeer
To the sky, take flight.

And that is the end of this Christmas eve tale.
Or tail.
Or tails.

Meowy Christmas from the Smalley kitters to all.

May your Christmas Eve be a quiet one.

And may all your Christmas wishes come true.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Green Ice

I went searching for photo shots between winter storms today. In the spirit of Christmas, I found green ice. Really!

This shot was taken on a small tributary to East Canada Creek near Stratford in western Fulton County. The water was moving quickly here, so the ice was actually forming on the rounded river rocks at the bottom of the creek. With the green tint of algae in the water, the ice was forming with a green hue.

Just down river, the water was slower and calmer. There were no green ice boulders under the water. But then again, a few hundred yards further, the water picked up speed and green ice formed once more.

I don't remember seeing this before. Now, if a beautiful red cardinal had just flown into the shot as I was preparing to take the photo ...

All I want for Christmas is the perfect shot,
the perfect shot,
oh, the perfect shot ...
all I want for Christmas is the perfect shot,
so I can enter it in a contest!

Fa la la la la la la la rah!

Friday, December 19, 2008

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

If the weather folks are correct, we're currently experiencing storm #2 in a series of 4. The snow is falling -- we're expecting a foot or more of snow today and tonight. It's good weather for addressing Christmas cards! (Yes, I'm a bit behind this year! I'll need storms 3 and 4 to get my presents wrapped!)




To entertain the family felines, we hung a suet feeder and some sugar donuts near the dining room window. I think I'm being equally entertained as I try to take photos of the our feathered visitors today.

Check back in a day or two. The cats are enjoying the Christmas tree and its ornaments. Help! We tied the tree to the logs to keep it from being cat-nappled.

We are Siamese if you please. We are Siamese if you don't please.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Student Success Story

The administration at ed2go, the online consortium of over 2,000 colleges and universities around the world, recently recognized the accomplishments of one of my Writing for Children students.

Here's what they had to say:

December 2008 - Carol Smalley, ed2go's Writing for Children and Creating a Successful Business Plan instructor, recently received a message from one of her students. We thought you'd be interested in what the student had to say.

I took your Children's Writing Course at ed2go last year. I just wanted to take a minute and thank you. I had not considered the non-fiction market prior to your class. However, it turned out to be a wonderful place to start. I published my first article in a girl's magazine this summer and have just gotten my second submission accepted for publication. I now have something to put on my resume!

Thanks for your inspiration.



The next session for both classes starts in mid-January. Why not join us? Learn more at www.CarolSmalley.com.

Friday, December 12, 2008

After the Snow

As the sun started to shine on this cold and blustery day, I headed out to capture the moment. Most of these shots were taken along Route 10 between Pine Lake and Piseco Lake in the Southern Adirondacks.

I liked the canal-like channel the water formed here in the West Sacandaga River wetlands. I'd like to have some of this persistence!







Near the Caroga Fire Department is a small creek with a tributary that formed an ice cave as it emptied into the main flow of water. It would be easy to drive right by this and never notice it.





This one's for Judy. A typical ice structure started to form along a rock cropping. Apparently, it pulled away from the rock and created its own free-standing ice sculpture. I'm not sure I've ever seen this happen before.






The water engineer in me has always been drawn to this waterwheel just north of Lake Alma. The snow made a perfect frame for it today.





The last one is along the drive up to our cabin in the woods. It's an early holiday wish to everyone.

Keepsa Going!

This morning, one of my online students from Australia in my Writing for Children class shared that this was one of her mother's favorite sayings. Keepsa going! These are words I need to hang near my work area.

Sometimes, after a creative burst, I need time to regroup and recover. This has been one of those weeks. I'm part in pre-holiday mode, part in cleaning mode (procrastinating writers are very clean), and part in winter slump mode.

I hopped out of bed this morning wishing for some beautiful winter photo shots. I met disappointment. It was dull, gray, and washed out. As I write this, it is snowing heavily. If the sun peeks later this afternoon (as it has been promised), there might be some good shots to capture. Fingers crossed. Toes too.

But between then and now, I'm going to curl up with a new writer's manuscript. I enjoy coaching children's writers. Today I'm going to see through the eyes of a child how adults can sometimes act. Something tells me there's a lesson in there for all of us to learn.

Check back later! I hope to share a photo or two.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Congratulations to Alison Dixon

Writing for Children alum Alison Dixon received an early Christmas present. Her poem, "Fish Fun," will appear in the February '09 issue of Stories for Children Magazine.

Congrats, Alison!

Monday, December 1, 2008

Sliding into Monday

Winter weather has arrived here in the Adirondacks. This holiday weekend ushered in a little snow, sleet, and freezing rain.

It was the perfect weather to write a novel -- so I did!

Diary of a Milt, a historical fiction journal-type novel for grades 5 to 8, is done. Well, at least the first draft is. Now to dot the i's and cross the t's, and then off it goes through cyberspace to the centennial committee at Milton Hershey School.

And then I wait ... for requested revisions, of course!

Ahh, the life of a writer.

Hope you had gobbly good turkey day.

Now, what will I do next? Oh, yes. An emergent reader on living green. Due right after the next holiday!