Friday, July 19, 2019

Middles, Ends, and Beginnings


Here in the Midwest, we're muddling through the middle of summer, complete with "Excessive Heat Warnings" for today and tomorrow. I'm so grateful for air conditioning, not only in my home but in our car, too! Many people call these the "Dog Days of Summer." I learned only recently that the phrase isn't because of the heat, but because of a star. From July 3 to Aug. 11 (in the Northern Hemisphere), Sirius, also known as the Dog Star, is in alignment with the sun. Thus, these are called the Dog Days. (You can read more about the term's origin at the Farmers' Almanac site.)

Sirius, Dog Star courtesy of dom1706 on pixabay
And here on TeachingAuthors, we're in the Middle of our giveaway of the wonderful picture book How I Learned to Fall Out of Trees by Vincent X. Kirsch (Abrams Books).  If you haven't read April's marvelous interview with Vincent yet, be sure to do so today! (You can enter the giveaway on that page.)

At TeachingAuthors, this is also a time for an End. As Carla mentioned in her last post, she's leaving our blogging team. Hard to believe she's been with us for over four years! It seemed we were welcoming her only a year or two ago. She was a terrific addition to the team and we will definitely miss her.

But this sad End will be followed by a happy Beginning. Next week, we'll welcome a new TeachingAuthor. I'm going to keep you in suspense and let her introduce herself in her inaugural post a week from today. I'll say only that she's an author of both fiction and nonfiction. I expect all our wonderful TeachingAuthors readers will make her feel right at home here.

I'd actually planned to write a post about poetry today. I recently started reading a poem a day in preparation for a poetry-focused writing project. However, I was distracted by an unexpected opportunity I couldn't pass up that I'll share about later. Meanwhile, I look forward to reading the posts in this week's Poetry Friday roundup, hosted over at Carol's Corner today.


Keep cool and remember to always Write with Joy!
Carmela

1 comment:

Carla Killough McClafferty said...

Thank you Marti for all you do for TA. I can't believe it has been four years! What a treat.