April, April, April

"In wilderness is the preservation of the world." Thoreau "Every moment of the year has its own beauty..." Emerson

This Tree

"This Tree" was written by Ida Tomshinsky, a true tree lover. The poem is very descriptive and has good observation.

I

In front of me

Is a tree.

It had a tough life-

The roots spread far

Out of the dirt

In knots and bombs

From tough fights

For space, sun and water

To keep the head high,

The same as we try.

II

Years divided the body of tree

On three equal parts -

Branches, the son and daughters,

Do not ask much in favor of tree's trunk,

Just sunlight and rain water

To stay mortal.

This tree has dark-gray bark,

Ridged and shaggy;

Its upright branches are paler and smooth,

As the truck was in youth.

III

The old buddy, earthy tree,

Stands straight and free,

Only the visual signals' appeal

Tells the story of every scar,

Wound and deep cuts in the hub.

Ten or twenty feet above the ground

This tree fights with beetles

And fungus one of a kind.

IV

I'm here to listen to every story

Of battles with tough winds, hurricanes,

And tough tropical rains.

Air and soil are magic

For this mightiest tree.

Let me be your quiet admire,

A doctor, a healer, be the awe

Of this tree.

V

Right now, there are

Only two of us,

This green tree,

And me.

The spring bright-green leathery leaves

Almost cover the tree,

As smiling at me.

Latin Proverbs

Please have a look at the famous Latin proverbs. You won't believe it, but we are sure at least once you have used one of them.

Acta non verba: "Action, not words."
Ars longa, vita brevis: "Art is long, life is short." (The Latin translation by Horace of phrase from Hippocrates)
Justitia omnibus: "Justice for all."
Mens sana in corpore sano: "Health mind in healthy body."
Si vis pacem, para bellum: "If you want peace, prepare for war."
Veni Vidi Vici: "I came, I saw, conquered." (Message sent to the Senate by Julius Caesar after defeating Pharnaces in 47 BCE)

8BigC's

Just had a brainstorm and came across the "digital literacy" tweet from Josie Fraser. josiefraser connects digital literacy to "culture" and "community." She defines culture to critical, and community, cognitively, citizenship, constructivism, creativity, and confidence in between to deal with all the 8BigC's. According to Josie, there're no particular order in reflecting to the subject, but obviously, she got an 'A' from me for quick and short, good job done.

Registered Nurses

According to a 2006-2007 U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics report, "employment for registered nurses is expected to grow much faster than average for all occupations through 2014."
In fact, registered nurses are projected to create the second largest number of new jobs among all occupations.

Nursing consists from three major components -

a. State-of-art,

b. Health science, and

c. Heart compassion.

Methods of Learning

Have you ever given much thought to how you learn something? There are traditional and nontraditional ways of learning. You probably more familiar with what is called the traditional method. You attend school, sit in classes, and a teacher imparts information to you and your classmates. This body of knowledge can be in the form of lectures, assigned readings from textbooks, or information you collectively arrive at by means of experimentation. Traditional education is highly structured and disciplined. There are goals and some forms of validating or testing to ensure that knowledge has been transformed from the teacher to the student.

Nontraditional education, on another hand, is less structured and more free-flowing. Knowledge is transferred from one source to another in much the same manner found in classroom, but the techniques are quite different. Perhaps, the same as learning to ride a bike. There were no textbook to teach you how, and there was no classroom. But there was a teacher, not in the school-student case. This time the teacher could have been a parent, brother, or sister. You learn by following instructions, observing by an example, and by doing it. Labs are another great example of hands-on education.
Enough of theory. In the practical world, we learn by combinations of traditional and nontraditional methods.

Go Tropical

Use the fashion tips from "fashion librarian" that lives in tropical climate. At the present time, we are experiencing 80 F degrees and light breezy fabric such as loose, lightweight cotton and linen clothing will rule the Spring updates in fashion.

The guayabera, sometimes called the "Mexican wedding shirt," is constructed to cool you naturally. A relative of the traditional Filipino barong, the guayabera wicks moisture from the skin and is worn untucked to promote air circulation. Madras is another good choice for both men's and women's clothing.

Don't forget the old standard of the American Deep South: seersucker. Originally, it was imported from India, crisp cotton and cooling ridges make it a of weather classic.

At the Ocean Shore

This poem is from the new book of poems titled "Truly Wonderful Place" by Ida Tomshinsky.

The sun breaks through smoky gray
To say "Hey!"
The sun warms up the morning fresh sand
At the ocean shore's hard land.

The sun turns the water green,
Very keen.
The sky is never the same color
Just follow -

It has it all: bright orange, pale purple, hazy blue...
What a view!
Shells and weeds wait for the new wave to come.
Bum, bum, bum, very fun!

A seagull family looks for foods,
Breakfast includes.
The ocean waves suck them back into the water -
These is no time to take the photo.

Cold water makes skin feel peppermint.
I look for geometric bird's pencil print.
I let the wind to hug my body,
County comfy.

The sound of the wind is rewarding -
Whispering and murmuring.
The waves swish swashing,
Wrapping and calming.

They lull me to sleep
The sweet memory to keep.

Spring Break

The spring break is almost arrived. Everybody needs a break after hard work term of school. I would like to introduce some ideas -what about to practice your own first-person writing or try to write the unthinkable. Sometimes, a word and an expression stocks in your head, and it just ask for collaboration in the form of writing poetry to tell the inspirational story. In then, who knows, from a real chaos to stories of real-life situations develop a piece of writing art by simply exploring the use of memory from your past, present situations (encounters, speculations, etc.)facts, autobiography or biographies of other people.

Nowadays, we are living in a fast time, but things such as parenting, traveling, hobbies in history, sports, health and nutrition, pop culture, humor and music are not a short-time projects, more like a long-time goals, a life style and life commitment.

Or, please finish the book or books you start and did not have time to finish. Read a book!

Below is a list with great ideas for Spring Break reading:

"Great Expectations" by Landon Y. Jones
"The Roman Way" by Edith Hamilton
"The Greek Way" by Edith Hamilton
"Hellenistic History and Culture" by Peter Green
"Cleopatra: The Life and Death of a Pharaoh"
"Conquest and Empire" by A. B. Bosworth
"Alexander the Great and the Logistic of the Macedonian Army" by Donald W. Engels
"The Age of Alexander" by Plutarch
"Alexander's Path: a Travel Memoir" by Freya Stark
"The Greek Alexander Romance" by Richard Stoneman