My first blog post

I started my blogging journey today.  Well, actually, I started it last week when I decided to join my colleagues at the Long Island Writing Project and hosts of Two Writing Teachers (twowritingteachers.org) in a Zoom seminar about blogging.  This feels intimidating.

I'm not used to doing this kind of writing.

Okay, so, Slice of Life is the theme of the Tuesday challenge that will begin in the month of March.  It is hosted by twowritingteachers.org.  Yes, this is the impetus to get me to write each day.  I have no idea how long my posts should be or what I'm even going to write about, but, I'm going to do it!

Slice of life...  today is a beautiful day in the Poconos.  That's where I'm at, sheltering in place since heading out to the beautiful Pennsylvania countryside in March of 2020.  In the past, whenever I would come up here to my house, it was usually just to crash and regenerate from my life in New York and Long Island where I work at Nassau Community College.

I absolutely love it up here in the country.  I sleep better.  That's what I'm going to write about in this, my first post.  I sleep so much better now that I don't have police and ambulance sirens and air traffic rumbling overhead and around me.  Out here on top of Mount Wismer it is so peaceful.  At night, it is so dark up here on the mountain that I have to keep a night light on so I can get to the bathroom without bumping into a piece of furniture or a wall.  The best part about sleeping these days is the peace and quiet.

Peace and quiet.  I like that.

When I lay down to sleep, just like I did last night, I look around the high-ceiling room I sleep in.  It's the upper floor of my house.  The dim light from the night light, a gift from my mother in the shape of a blue and white morning glory on a stained glass pane, casts a soft glow about the room.  It is to this light that my eyelids begin their slow dance, dip, dance and eventual close to dreamland.

I can usually make it through the entire night these days without having to attend to nature.  Even with a full schedule of work to attend to each day, this setting eases me into it and I usually stay in that peaceful state until the morning light and sound gently arouses me.

This morning I woke to the sound of the wind rustling through the deciduous forest surrounding my house, accompanied by the pale light of a Mount Wismer dawn.  Rising, I looked out the greenhouse window and knew this was going to to be a great day.

I'm so glad I spent part of my morning with colleagues at the Long Island Writing Project.