Blogging Laryngitis

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A brief break from blogging at the beginning of my summer turned into a 4 month silence. I’m not sure where or how to begin again, except to say that I missed you and missed writing about books, and so I am returning to dust off this neglected blog. Blogging breaks are important, and after blogging incessantly for 3-1/2 years, it must have been time for some quiet reflection.

All is well. There was just a lot of life that happened that continues to keep me very busy. This 25th year of teaching has been the busiest of my career, with the District adding an unbelievable amount of change (new math curriculum, new grading system, new style of conferences, etc. etc.).  So those new demands have eaten up my usual reading time and energy, and I am just now reaching an equilibrium with it all and getting back to my books.

So what happens to a book blogger when silence reigns? Reading does continue (at least it did during the summer!).  My favorite read of the summer was a beautiful little book by Pam Muñoz Ryan, The Dreamer — a fictional account of the childhood of poet Pablo Neruda. She captured the spirit of poetry in telling the story of his difficult childhood, and I loved the illustrations by Peter Sis. Not wanting to leave that dreamlike world of poetry she created, I spent much of my summer time with Neruda’s poems themselves. The last stanza of his poem, “We Are Many,” seems fitting for my return from silence to voice:

While I am writing, I am far away;
and when I come back, I have already left.
I should like to see if the same thing happens
to other people as it does to me,
to see if as many people are as I am,
and if they seem the same way to themselves.
When this problem has been thoroughly explored,
I am going to school myself so well in things
that, when I try to explain my problems,
I shall speak, not of self, but of geography.

12 thoughts on “Blogging Laryngitis”

  2. Nan

    Yay!! So very glad you are back, Robin.

    I LOVED Esperanza Rising by Ryan. I learned so much in a story very well told. Have you read it?

    Thank you for returning!

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  4. Robin Post author

    Thanks, Mom. I’m happy to have a little bit of time again to read and blog.

    Thanks, Nan. I’m happy to be back. I love PMR’s work! I did a post on Esperanza Rising a few years ago, and also loved her book, Becoming Naomi León. Here are links to both posts:

    https://afondnessforreading.wordpress.com/2008/08/29/esperanza-rising/

    https://afondnessforreading.wordpress.com/2008/12/06/becoming-naomi-leon/

    Thanks, Nancy! I adore Neruda, too, so I know you would enjoy this beautiful little book.

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  10. iliana

    Great to see you again Robin! I agree, I think blogging breaks are a good thing and funny how we end up reading more right? 🙂

    Thank you for sharing the Neruda poem. He’s a favorite of mine.

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  12. Robin Post author

    Veronica, thank you so much for sending the link to the Red Poppy site. I hadn’t heard of it before, but it’s a wonderful resource and fun site to visit!

    Thanks, Kristen! It’s nice to be back.

    Thanks, Les! The break was good for me and I feel reenergized and wishing I had more reading time now that I’m caught up in the busy-ness of the school year.

    Thanks, Celi.A! I love Neruda, too, and this little book was lovely.

    Thanks, Carrie! Good to be back.

    Thanks, Iliana. Yes, I read a ton this summer, and listened to a lot of audiobooks while knitting. The time “off” was good.

    Thanks, Bybee! It feels right.

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