Author: Loree Burns

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A Writer’s Prayer

This morning I wrote the crappiest first draft of a book ever penned.

It is foul, I tell you. Beyond ugly. Practically unreadable.

But it’s done.

So, now I’ll go outside and enjoy the rest of the day. First, with a nod to Annie Lamott*, a prayer to the writing gods: Please don’t let me fall off a mountain or get hit by a bus before I am able to begin turning this piece of writing into a decent manuscript; I would hate for my mourning family to find this wretched first draft!

Amen.

And Happy Labor Day.

*If you are a writer, particularly a new one, consider reading Anne Lamott’s BIRD BY BIRD. Trust me.

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STEM Friday Roundup

What’s STEM? It’s an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, and it is used to describe anything—from curricula to careers to books—that draw on or explore those fields of study.

What’s STEM Friday? It’s a weekly online celebration of books and activities that explore themes of science, technology, engineering and math. Every Friday, book bloggers across the internet share their thoughts on STEM topics, and every Friday someone compiles the links to all their posts so that you can peruse them at your leisure.

Why am I telling you this? Because today is STEM Friday, and I am the STEM Friday host!

If you are a contributor, leave me a link in the comments section. If you are a reader, check back throughout the day, as I’ll be adding STEM Friday links to the list below all day  …

First up is my post about International Coastal Cleanup, the perfect volunteer effort for anyone (or any group of someones) who has read TRACKING TRASH and felt moved to do something about ocean pollution.

Over at Ana’s Nonfiction Blog, author Ana María Rodríguez shares the slime in a sneak peak post about her book SECRET OF THE SUFFOCATING SLIME TRAP …. AND MORE!

At the SimplyScience blog, author Shirley Smith Duke shares a review and some related classroom activities in her post about the book HURRICANES!, by Gail Gibbons.

At Wrapped in Foil, Roberta explores Cat in the Hat science with a post reviewing WHY OH WHY ARE DESERTS DRY, by Tish Rabe, Aristides Ruiz, and Joe Matheiu.

Jeff at NC Teacher Stuff checked in with a post about SNAKES, SALAMANDERS, AND LIZARDS, by Diane Burns and Linda Garrow. (I love snakes, salamanders, and lizards!)

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Cleanup! Cleanup! Everybody Cleanup!


ICC, Worcester, Massachusetts, 2007

If you’ve read my first book, TRACKING TRASH, you know that I’m a fan of the ocean cleanup extravaganza known as the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC). One day, hundreds of thousands of volunteers, millions of pounds of trash lifted from shores and deposited in safer places AND a twenty-five year record of every single item collected*. What’s not to love? Having participated in a few events myself, I know first-hand the impact they have on local beaches and the people who love them.

This year, The Ocean Conservancy is encouraging event organizers to take their work to the next level: clean up beaches, record the trash you find … and at the same time do everything you can to be sure you make as little impact on the planet as possible. No more Boxes of Joe on the sidelines, folks; bring your own coffee in a re-useable mug. I love it.

Participating in a planned ICC event is an excellent way to empower students who are aware of the ocean pollution issue. (TRACKING TRASH readers, for example.) Yes, there is a lot of trash in the ocean, but we can do something about it. We can clean it up, we can look carefully at what we find, and we can change our habits. You can participate alone, with your family, with a classroom of students or as part of a scout group. The options are endless, and the impact is real.

This year’s ICC is September 17, and you can find more information and an event near you at The Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup page.

For more information on ICC events happening in Massachusetts, where the festivities are spread out over a two month timeframe, visit the 2011 Coastsweep page.

* For 26 years, volunteers have counted all the debris collected on beaches around the world during ICC. Their results are compiled and published annually in The Ocean Conservancy’s State of the Ocean report. You can access the 2010 report from the ICC webpage linked above.

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Wednesday Wild: Spotted Surprise

© Loree Griffin Burns

Spotted salamanders are famous for their springtime congresses, when males and females migrate in huge numbers from the woodlands where they’ve spent the winter to the vernal pools in which they will mate. I’ve spent many a warm and rainy spring evening hanging out around the local vernal pool with a flashlight strapped to my head, hoping for a good show. (No, I’m not the only whackadoo that does this sort of thing; for a sense of what draws us out there, read this. Or this.)

Anyway, I have never, ever seen a spotted salamander outside of that spring migration. But on Saturday, a day before Hurricane Irene crashed through Massachusetts, my husband unearthed this little fellow in the garden. He was kind enough to pose for a picture.

Here’s to some wild in your Wednesday …

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Rhythm

© Loree Griffin Burns

Back to school.

Deep breath.

Slow cup of tea.

Deep breath.

Back to work.

 

(Good luck to all the children starting school this week, and to all the parents, like me, adjusting to it!)

 

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The Coolest (Library)Thing

Hurricane Irene has come and gone, and aside from a couple downed limbs in the yard, we Burnses survived mostly unscathed. But we were stuck in the house all day yesterday, and that was … trying. At least until I drifted over to LibraryThing. I’ve been a member for a while, but hadn’t visited recently. Yesterday, I decided to update my Author profile and be sure that no one was saying anything icky about my books. (Ha!)

One thing led to another and, well, guess what? I began cataloguing my home library. I am not kidding.

(In my defense, it rained for a long, long, long time. LONG.)

Anyway, I love organizing and I love books, and now I have an excellent way to combine the two. Cataloguing my entire library is going to take a while, but yesterday I managed to get through some of my favorite nonfiction collections: biographies and Scientists in the Field books. If you are a LibraryThing user, you can check it out here. And be sure to say hello over there so I can see your library!

Edited to add: The colorful banner at the top of this post was created by one of my kids a while ago, and seemed appropriate for this post. Don’t know what I’ll do when I start cataloguing fiction …

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Wednesday Wild: One Cozy Nest

© Loree Griffin Burns

I wish I could figure out a way to make a better photo of this massive bald-faced hornet nest. It’s hanging from a Japanese maple in my back yard, about three feet off the ground. When I first noticed it earlier in the summer, it was the size of my fist. Now it’s bigger than a Chihuahuaua. The hornets that call this masterpiece home have been busy this week, and I didn’t dare interrupt them for a photo shoot. (Um, yes, I was scared to get any closer. These are NOT honey bees!)

If I can keep Mr. Burns from finding and removing the nest, I’ll take another pic in a couple months, when the hornets have died off.

Here’s hoping there’s some wild in your Wednesday …

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Mud Pies and Other Recipes

MUD PIES AND OTHER RECIPES: A COOKBOOK FOR DOLLS
By Marjorie Winslow
Illustrated by Erik Blegvad
Walker and Company, 1961

Category: Hands-on Children’s Nonfiction

“Doll cookery is not a very exacting art,” Marjorie Winslow admits in the foreword to this irresistible tribute to that staple of an outdoor childhood: making mudpies. “If a recipe calls for a cupful of something, you can use a measuring cup or a teacup or a buttercup.” The pages that follow are filled with whimsical recipes, plenty of natural ingredients (pine cones, acorn caps, shredded marigold blossoms, and fresh rainwater, to name a few) and endless options for the backyard chef.

How do you toss a Seesaw salad? “Arrange yourself on a seesaw with the bowl in front of you and a friend at the other end. Toss as long as it’s fun, or until well blended.” Of course.

Too tired to cook up a fancy meal? Try a quick Mud Puddle Soup: “Find a mud puddle after a rainstorm and seat your dolls around it. Serve.”

My daughter’s copy of MUD PIES was a gift from a friend more than five years ago, and it looks like a well-loved and much-used cookbook should: dog-eared, annotated, splattered with berry juice, and crunchy with crumbs (of sand). When she pulls it out and starts to cook, I’m mesmerized; this is a book that was first published nearly a decade before I was born, after all, and she and I can still play at it for hours. Here’s a recipe we wrote together this past week, during a soggy couple days near the beach in Rhode Island. It gives you a flavor for the sort of creativity this gem of a book inspires:

Late Summer Beach Soup

Place 6 rain-soaked rose hips in the bottom of a small saucepan. Cover with fresh seawater. Simmer gently on a patch of grass, stirring occasionally, until the sun comes out. Before serving, add shredded beach roses and a sprinkling of sand. Ladle into bowls and serve immediately.

Bon Appetit!

Edited to add: Check out a round-up of today’s Nonfiction Monday posts over at Ana’s Nonfiction Blog.

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Especially for Science Teachers

It’s a linky kind of Friday …

Today I’ve got some links especially for science teachers. I’ll add this post to today’s STEM Friday round-up, but please feel free to forward it to the science teachers in your life, too.

First up, the American Museum of Natural History has published its slate of online classes for the fall, and they are pretty cool. (Space, Time, and Motion, anyone?) You’ll find full listings and course descriptions at the AMNF Seminars on Science webpage.

Also, the National Research Council has compiled a new framework for improved K-12 science education standards in the United States, and their report is available online for free. Go to the National Academies Press website and scroll to the “Dowload Free PDF” button. (Free registration is required in order to download.) I’ve begun reading it myself and am encouraged by the call to move science education away from rote memorization of facts and toward a hands-on approach wherein students actively participate in the scientific process. I know the transition to more experiential learning in the science classroom won’t be easy to implement, but good gravy, won’t it be more fun?

Finally, in the spirit of encouraging kids and teachers to actively participate in the scientific process, a sneak peak at my upcoming book about citizen science is now available on Goodreads. (You must be a Goodreads member to access the page; becoming one is free and easy.) If you read the chapter, I’d love to know what you think.

A round-up of posts from the kidlitosphere on the topics of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) can be found at Wrapped in Foil today. Check it out, and happy clicking!

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Wednesday Wild: An Introduction

© Loree Griffin Burns

Lotsa new on the old blog this week: new platform, new colors, new sidebars, new, new, new. Why not add a new feature? I have long been intrigued by the Wordless Wednesday posts seen here and there around the blogosphere, because photographs make me happy. But it turns out I’m not so good at the wordless part. (Shocking, I know.) Anyway, I’ve reworked the concept a bit. Welcome to my first Wednesday Wild post. A photo from somewhere in my wild world. A few words. A new weekly feature.

So … that there is a house wren, and it is raising a family in my garden. I’m not sure yet how many babies are in the birdhouse, but its enough to make a decent racket when they are hungry. I hid in a blind of sunflowers for forty-five minutes yesterday, listening to the squawk and taking pictures. They were some of the best minutes of the day.