…but today, I reported to my classroom for the first time since March 12, 2020. It’s almost time to close up shop for the summer.

As I approached the doorway, I couldn’t help but notice the “Pandemic Cleaning Checklist” that hung on the door. I pulled my mask down so I could anxiously exhale and clearly view the steps our custodians took to make the environment safe. Then, I turned the key and entered.

Everything else was just as we had left it. The setting was eerie, in mildly post-apocalyptic way.

Lucas’ handwriting greeted me from the whiteboard — in bold purple marker, it reminded me of his campaign to be my favorite student.

Our field trip bus request and permission forms peeked out of a yellow folder I had prepared for an upcoming special event I had planned with some of my teacher soul-sisters from other districts.

A few leftover Class of 2020 t-shirt order forms puddled up on a student desk near mine.

I quickly sprayed the markerboard and wiped it clean. I tossed the order forms and the field trip folder into the trash. Many other stacks and bundles followed. I purge. It’s what I do to put the past in the past.

For over six weeks, I have maintained communication and connection strictly through digital means. I have driven past homes, honking and waving at precious friends in their yards and I have briefly chatted with my parents in their driveway when I dropped off supplies.

Folks, it is not the same. You can see the proof in the photo on the left. That woman has had limited real human interaction for the last month.

Do you see the fear in her eyes?
Do see the darkness?

Now look at the face on the right. That face is relaxed, smiling, and glowing. That is the face of a teacher who is back in her element, hitting reset, reflecting, and making plans for the future. It’s the countenance of a woman who spent just a few minutes chatting eye to eye with colleagues in the high school hallways. These images were taken just a couple of healing hours apart. Clearly, face-to-face interaction is a steroid, and we all need a shot.

I am not mourning any longer.
Our students are going to be okay.
We are going to be okay.

We have to allow ourselves to be.

Ready yourself to overcome this.
Plan to put the past in the past.
Prepare to purge the fear.
Get ready to glow!!

Disney piqued our curiosity through social media. We first learned of this adaptation through Facebook trailers that used a split-screen method to show viewers key scenes from the 1991 classic and the 2017 overhaul, and we sentimentally fell intrigued with the intentional similarities. We were interested to see how the animated version we knew would translate to the live-action format. Would the dinner plates perform in Technicolor brilliance? Would the beast be realistic enough to fear … and to love? Would Gaston be as irresistible in human form as he thinks he is in Animation Land? (To our delight, Gaston, played by Luke Evans – Fast and Furious 6, 2013; Girl on the Train, 2016 – can SING, though we still dislike the character as much as we did in 1991.)

After our enjoyable experience with the recent Cinderella remake, we trusted that this film would measure up, or even surpass its predecessor.

We entered the sold-out theatre on opening night. Our expectations were high. Instantly, we were captivated by a flashback that shows the prince (before the spell) entertaining at a ball that makes bibliophiles like Belle think of Edgar Allan Poe’s “Masque of the Red Death.” It’s dark and ominous, symbolizing the joyless life the prince lives even before he transforms. Soon, the flashback melts away, and we are in the present setting, enchanted and singing along with the familiar lines of the opening song. Fans will know the words. (Oh, and there are a handful of other literary allusions that will make your high school English teacher proud.)

The movie remained consistent for several scenes, and that was satisfactory for us, but Disney must have anticipated that some audiences would appreciate something original with the “remake.” Thus, they incorporated a story unexplored in the animation – the backstory of Belle’s mother. (Rarely do we see a mother figure in a Disney story line. Have you noticed this too?) Viewers will appreciate this explanation and the more developed and sympathetic character that is her father.

As a mother and teacher, I first thought of the one of the strongest themes of this plot: “Don’t judge one by his or her appearance.” Yes! We certainly can’t argue with the importance of that message, and this adaptation delivered on that point, but it provides more. Feminists will be pleased to see Belle is the inventor in this version, not her father. (Wait until you see what she engineers!) Disney offers a new dimension, a modern message for the young women in the audience: There is so much more for you than just what you have planned for yourself. This lesson, along with others about how to behave when others mock you make this movie one to share with young women. Additionally, the key scene when Belle climbs the bluff to “the great wide somewhere” is more than just literal.

Viewers will also appreciate a new understanding to His Royalty’s roar. He’s not just having a bad fur day.

All-in-all, this film is good. We sang, we laughed, we reminisced, and (we admit) we cried more than just a few quiet tears due to its heartbreaking undercurrent of homesickness. We think it will make a good film for your family to share this weekend. Its PG rating is due to the scary moments you may remember from the animation – creepy woods, aggressive wolves, a fight scene at the resolution. Additionally, if you’ve read other reviews, you realize you may have to field some questions about the relationship between LeFou and some of the other characters, but the tendencies may be ambiguous enough to sneak past young viewers. We encourage each of you to take this issue into consideration. Furthermore, the notion that a person needs somebody else to complete him or free him from some sort of captivity is somewhat perturbing, but the movie offered us more enjoyment than disappointment. Thus, we invite you to “be our guest” and spend a little time with Beauty and her beast.

The New York summer
dragged on, humid and misty.

Cousin’s grunge bands
jammed out the angst we all felt
in those days

Below, in my uncle’s driveway,
tools beat a rhythm of freedom.
I knew the words to your song instinctively.

Your anthem pulled me to the window   .
You had your head in the engine of a GMC.
Your hands, young, but capable
manipulated horsepower and torque
and the promise of the American highway.

I could feel the heat of your body
rise
two stories up–
steam through cotton.

The universe told me what to do,
but I turned back to my reflection,
tamed my wildness into a prim braid,
blotted my lip gloss
and only thought about
slipping my fingers
through your belt loops
and turning you around to face me.

His images, characters, and anthems have earned him admission into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Like a poet, he has the uncanny ability to find gold in what he observes, like an artist making masterpieces of regular-life scenes. Take, for example, the opening lines of “Free Fallin’.” Though he admits in a recent interview that he wrote those iconic lines as a way to make his friend Jeff Lynne laugh, they paint a picture of an ordinary life to whom his audience can relate. “She’s a good girl, loves her mama/ loves Jesus and America too,” Petty writes. “She’s a good girl, crazy ‘bout Elvis/ loves horses and her boyfriend too.” This image of an All-American life resonates with listeners, and even some of his lesser-known lyrics provide fans with images that seem to be more from a poet than from a rock star. In his 1987 track “It’ll All Work Out,” he opens with a clever simile that transforms the song to a poetic work: “She wore faded jeans and soft black leather/ she had eyes so blue, they looked like weather.” While he might have made these words choices for the sake of the rhyme, the use of the simile provides the audience with a subtly symbolic reference they can ponder. Die-hard music fans might even consider an image like this to be an allusion to Willie Nelson’s single “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain” (Fred Rose, 1975). Songwriting like this gives listeners much to consider, which is why Petty is deserving of this commemoration…and with dozen of albums to his credit, fans have ample opportunity to analyze.

Images like these are one element of Petty’s songwriting that give him credence to this induction, and the characters that he has created are equally important. Consider the heroines he has crafted. There’s the legendary “American Girl” (1977) or Mary Jane (“Mary Jane’s Last Dance,” 1993), just to name a couple, and the narratives of these characters remind us of the girls we used to know, the young ladies we want to know, the daughters we used to be, and the women we wish we were.

… but above all, the musical compositions of Tom Petty include themes of doing what you know is right, standing up for what you believe in, and working hard, making him a staple of American songwriting.

We are excited about Tom Petty’s induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and agree that it is most well-deserved honor. We congratulate him on his continued success in the industry, and thank him for the decades of great story-telling he has brought to our ears and hearts.

We had heard that city officials expected nearly 8,000 people for the block party, so I knew to get into my Relatively Random t-shirt and grab our red collapsible lawn chairs and hit the highway for Grayson early to be there in time for the gates opening at 6:00. We arrived in plenty of time, encountered very little traffic, and found a terrific free parking spot close to the parking lot where the event was to be held. We had the place nearly to ourselves and sat up our chairs behind where the small crowd was forming. (Luckily, the other patrons left ample room between themselves and us, as we would soon need the space as a dance floor.)

As the first blistering hot sun of the summer moved across the sky and dropped behind the local church steeple, shade fell upon the large parking lot, setting the mood for Friday night fun. Two different local acts performed songs they had written and covers of popular hits, priming the growing crowd for the main event.

At about 8:30, Old Dominion took the stage, opening with their current chart-topper “Snapback.” Over the nearly two hours that they performed, fans enjoyed all of the tracks from the band’s current album MEAT AND CANDY, along with some other well-known compositions the band members had written for other popular country music artists. Now, this is where we became seriously impressed. We love Old Dominion. We own their CDs and we know every word to every song, but like the title of the album suggests, most of the songs are “candy” – feel good, bubblegum tracks. Only a couple of songs give us any “meat” to provide substance, so we worried the concert might leave us a little empty, but when they shared some of the pieces they’d published previous to their pop-country success, they gained a new level of our respect.

Of these compositions are the heartbreaking “Wake Up Lovin’ You” (released by Craig Morgan 2013), Tyler Farr’s popular “A Guy Walks Into a Bar” (2014), and much to our surprise, a favorite at our house, Blake Shelton’s “Sangria” (2015). Learning that the Old Dominion guys penned these tunes impressed us tremendously, and scored them some additional street cred in our book.

Overall, we were very pleased with the event. We danced all night and laughed along with the band as they conversed with the crowd from their platform. Old Dominion gave a top-notch, feel-good, party-in-the-parking lot performance, leaving it all on stage, just as they would have for a larger venue. Indeed, they turned this little one-horse into Vegas.

We recommend that you catch them on their summer tour. You can see them at their upcoming stops to upstate New York (Canandaigua and Hunter), in good ole Nashville, way up in Wisconsin, or out on the beach in Virginia (the state from which most of the band hails). For a complete list of concert dates, visit their website.

He is bumbling. Clumsy.
He is awkward. Unmannerly.

Pop music plays on the drive home.
It’s just you, Mother, and your boy.

You begin.

You tell him of the boys you remember,
of how she’ll never forget the ones who were mean,
of how she’ll never forget the ones who were not.

You wink. Confessing.

He sees you now.
Different.

He cranes his neck, forcing his face to the passenger side glass
and as the family wagon rolls on,
your right hand on his shoulder,
you know there are tears.

It began with a visit to Southwest Vacations online. There are many other internet travel sites that provide equal services and comparable prices, but Mary shopped first with Southwest, a name I approved of, recognized, and trusted. Booking a trip with Southwest Vacations was as easy as booking a regular US flight with them. We named our preferred dates, saw the options of marvelous destinations, chose the type of room we wanted, and combined these simple logistics with Mary’s experience. Her knowledge of Caribbean travel and all-inclusive resorts, along with consumer reviews on TripAdvisor, helped us choose our journey’s end. As she clicked through the website’s prompts, Mary even secured transportation from the airport to the resort and back again. Southwest thought of everything! All I had to do was pay for my portion of the trip and obtain a passport. Not long after, my sisters and I left Baltimore, MD on a direct flight to Cancun, Mexico. (Southwest Airlines provides international flights to many destinations from a number of American airports, but Mary lives in MD and the three of us decided to meet there and begin our journey together.)

Flying to a foreign land with a familiar airline like Southwest was a comfortable treat. The procedures and service were standard and enjoyably predictable. The flight attendants were in jolly good moods and generous, upon learning that we were celebrating a special event – with the snacks and beverages. As the four-hour flight approached its end, the crew talked us through the paperwork we each needed to complete to pass through customs without incident. We landed safely, secured our baggage without problem, and navigated through customs seamlessly. Then, the only hiccups we experienced transpired. Because our pilot has transported us so remarkably well, he actually delivered us to Cancun ahead of schedule, and unfortunately, our transportation was not ready for us. The company was expecting us, our names were on the log, and a driver was scheduled to assist us, but because our flight arrived early, we had to wait on the curb for about thirty minutes before he completed his previous run and picked us up. While this disturbed us some, we chatted with other passengers, shared travel stories, and – had we wanted one at the time – vendors provided beverages nearby. Note: Our limited Spanish proficiency did not present a problem for us as we communicated with the airport staff or shuttle service employees. Their English was good, and what Spanish we retained from high school Spanish classes decades prior was sufficient.

Soon, our driver arrived and cheerfully swooped up our bags. We scurried behind him and loaded into the vehicle. The last leg of our short journey was underway, and within about thirty minutes – all filled with friendly small talk and humorous Spanish lessons — he safely delivered us to our resort, the Iberostar Paraiso Beach. The property was beautiful. Open-air lobbies featuring large couches and plush seating welcomed us. Peacocks, swans, parrots filled the landscape with their beauty and songs. Waterways moved through the architecture, complete with beautiful fish and turtles. Generous staff members relieved us of our baggage and offered fruity cocktails in exchange. The front-desk staff greeted us with clear communication and terrific service, maps, and information about the property before connecting us quickly with the concierge, who assisted us with our meal-planning for the length of our stay.

Afterwards, he offered us opportunities to enjoy excursions off the premises, but the resort was so large and lovely, we did not feel the need to leave it. Our beach-front accommodations thrilled us from sunrise to our mid-afternoon siestas. The Caribbean views, clear water, near-by open-air food provisions, complementary snorkeling filled our days, and when we wanted a change of scenery, the enormous pools with their swim-up bars, ice cream parlors, and aquatic games kept us entertained each afternoon. Nightly we dined at fantastic restaurants and enjoyed prompt, complementary room service. If we desired, we could enjoy a live show after dinner or visit the dance club. On-site shopping was available as well.

Our first international sisters’ escape was an exceptional experience. From the easy planning to the affordability, the quality facilities to the amazing people we met, our Southwest vacation with Iberostar was an experience we will seek to repeat when the next milestone arrives.

First, we considered the traditional dinner and a movie date format. Luckily, Lionsgate has released a new Nicholas Sparks’ movie just in time for the blessed day! Like the holiday, however, The Choice is a complicated option for your romantic celebration, but here is why we like it:

1. Flirting Lessons: If you and your sweetheart are just starting your romantic journey, the adorable bantering between the film’s lead characters will give you a clever example. The first half of the show is filled with witty jabs and cute phrases that show viewers how to be playful and polite, how to make friends and how to make up. If you’re further down the road in your relationship, however, this story is a good one for you, as well. While you may have mastered the art of flirting years ago, this reel will give you the refresher you might not even know you need. Wink, wink. Truthfully, this film is great for the non-committed viewer, too, as both of the primary actors (Benjamin Walker, Teresa Palmer) are so attractive and compelling, you’ll feel like they are flirting with you. (I certainly got my money’s worth.) Thus, this film is an option for couples and unattached audiences to enjoy.

2. It’s a terrible book-to-screen adaptation. This means that if your date has already read the 2007 novel upon which this movie is based, she’ll actually get a big surprise. The movie is very different from the book. (We enjoyed the movie more, actually, which pains us to say. Aren’t we always supposed to claim that the book is better than its silver screen account?) Gabby (Warm Bodies, Point Break 2015) is more believably brought to life on screen, and more likable. The storyline is essentially the same – boy meets girl, boy is smitten, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back, boy loses girl again (this time in a more dramatic way) – but it contains enough plot variance and difference in character development to make the two stand alone. Therefore, the price of admission will be a good investment; the movie will provide you with something you weren’t expecting (if you were expecting a true-to-text representation).

3. North Carolina. Like every other Sparks’ film we’ve seen, The Choice is set on the banks of North Carolina, and this one celebrates the waterways that flow between the mainland and the open sea. It is full of beautiful landscape shots, images of coastal activities such as fishing, boating, and picnics, and tours of unique waterfront properties. In this film, it is warm and sunny (except for some scenes where bad weather symbolizes crisis to promote the movie’s climax) and for that reason, we recommend spending a frigid February evening or wintery weekend afternoon in the theatre. Take a little vacation to the coast with this piece of cinema.
     

4. It’s grown-up. The Choice carries with it mature and complex themes. It’s not just a love story, it makes some philosophical and morale claims, as well. Viewers will notice a voice-over narrative about choices and life’s direction. They’ll also find religious undertones and implications about the importance of tradition and the value of family, and it will be impossible to ignore the blatant message: “Love harder.” So, if you’re not in the mood for a chick flick, step up to the ticket window anyway. This movie offers more than just the cliché tropes of a romantic drama.

Overall, we enjoyed the film. While it does not receive rave reviews from other entertainment reporters, we found The Choice to be more than what we expected and rate it a good choice for Valentine’s viewing. (Note: We do not recommend this as a choice for a first date. There will be crying, and if you’re uncomfortable with showing emotion as your friendship forms, skip this one. Besides, is there any good way to warn your date that she might need to wear waterproof mascara when she goes out with you? That might sound like a bad omen. And is it really fair to ask her to cry off all of her concealer, like we did? I mean, she barely knows you! She probably isn’t ready to bare her whole heart and her naked face, too.)

Wait. That’s been said. And, my, Pablo Neruda could say it, couldn’t he? (Shew!)

… but there is no atmosphere in this winter, and so I can’t write the saddest lines. I have trouble writing any lines at all. Rain has fallen for over a week. The ground is spongy, and the creek banks are littered with long grasses and driftwood brought downstream by gully-washers. Temperatures have been record high, but the sun hasn’t shone in … a very long time. The whimsy of the season is absent. The gloomy weather doesn’t even induce melancholy; it’s just dull.

At this time of year — when days are short, but nights still don’t seem long enough to rejuvenate the exhausted soul — a writer like me needs slow snow fall out the window, and the twinkle of white Christmas tree lights in the reflection of the window near the big writing desk. She needs steaming coffee and music – real music played by clever songwriters on real instruments.

A fireplace might be nice, too, but it’s not essential.

This winter, the precipitation is coming down in buckets, not in flakes, and the fireplace is waiting for me to switch the air-conditioning off again. Thus, the desired writing ambiance is lacking.

Sure, one could concoct a musey-mood elsewhere, I suppose. Sometimes it is easier to achieve an inspirational atmosphere by writing in a public place such as a coffee shop, bustling hotel lobby, or transit station. These places help the writer disappear, or to step outside of who he or she is. For me, I must step outside of who I am to others. The right atmosphere help me achieve that, to a point.

Perhaps that is why there is a restlessness inside of me – a gypsy undercurrent that sometimes tempts me to be absent from my workplace, out of the kitchen, away from the home, released to the highway. The writer in me wants to roam and see and listen and feel and think and roll. I don’t get to do that often, but it seems that when there are wheels under me, my writer heart is happiest.

… but roaming requires time, money, and opportunity. For me, it would be a selfish investment. I am a full-time professional with a family, and like many writers with day jobs, I find myself saying, “I can write when I take time off work/when the chores are finished/when the kids go to college/when I retire …” This is not realistic. Life will always be busy, and writers write, so we must prioritize. I must prioritize.

In an earlier issue of Relatively Random we discussed the things that writers need: invitation, community, and outlet. We reviewed resources that provide invitations for writers, but without community, the equation is incomplete. Writers write, but they don’t do it alone; it is not the solitary business some people imagine it is. Writers need other writers to hold them celebrate with them, inspire them, and hold them accountable.

For 2016, I plan to reimagine my writing community. Within a new community of writers, I will find the balance between life and the writing life. I invite you to join me.

(If you are interested in becoming a part of the Relatively Random writing community, please drop us a note at our Contact Us Page.)

Autumn in Kentucky was gorgeous. The especially rainy summer helped the trees hold their leaves a little longer and shine their colors a whole lot brighter. Anna found the first-turning tree on the mountain remarkable. She wished she could be that tree — prime, unafraid to burst into passionate color and strip herself all the way down, to be scarlet on green like fire in late summer, like flush on the still-golden skin of soybean fields. Brave. Gorgeous. Bold. Surrendering.

The chime of her turn signal interrupted her fantasy. Right. Right. Right. Right, it commanded. She flashed a glance to the mirror again. Nobody. Nothing.

Right. Right. Right. Go right. Do right. Live right.

The universe chanted, pounding in her head. Pressure squeezed her chest. Her mouth felt dry. She swallowed hard and jerked the wheel left.