Day five of my cruise brought action, adventure, history, and some really nice slide shows, according to my editor, and love of my life, Mike Jensen.

The desiccated flower is something I found in my jacket pocket after I got home - it is the national flower of Saint Croix and was blooming everywhere during my brief time on the island. The fresh blooms picture below are just a quick grab from the internet.
​
You can find my new writing under Non-Fiction/Memoirs/Cruise-Log 2023/Cruise Log - Day 05

If you enjoy this article, please leave a comment (click  above) or a thumbs up, click below, or both.
More encouragement from readers means more writing from the author.
Dr. P-J
3/22/23

by Shelley Pineo-Jensen, Ph.D.
​​
I woke up immersed in an intense dream about teaching. I was back at Nelson, teaching eight grade again. There was a mandatory assembly coming up about structural changes in the school environment. There were two children who were visitors to the class, forced into the situation as kids who were “shopping” the school to see if they wanted to switch schools and potentially join my classroom.

Classroom management was more challenging than it should have been. There was electricity in the air about the assembly and the visitors had no buy-in to our classroom norms.

Eventually, I had to move the students out of the room towards the assembly. I stopped them on a field of grass to try to pull them together after our disfunction back in the classroom. Outside, my vocal power was diminished; I was having to speak much louder to be heard. There was much commotion around us. Some of my students were talking loudly, not listening, not behaving well.

The principal came up and in an aggressive voice, she told one of the potential students that the child would not be allowed to join our school because of the behavior the principal had observed. She made bellicose remarks to my class and then swaggered away.

One of the new kids had complained twice that something was unfair, so I finally stopped what I was doing, got close to her, and asked, “What is unfair?” She told me that she had been charged $75 to come visit our school. I was visibly angered by this and said that it was, indeed, unfair. “This is a public school. They cannot charge you money to come here,” I said. The look in her eyes was very satisfying. Her demeanor changed and I knew that she had been heard, given the feedback that she was correct.

Near the end of the dream, I could not bring my class close enough to me that they would be able to hear what I said. Other students were moving past us; there was commotion all around us. What I was telling them was this: Tell me what you need to be successful in school. Tell me what you want to be successful in school. Write it down, or make sure that I write it down when you tell me. It is too important to leave it to my memory. I want to know. I want to act on what you tell me.”

Then I woke up, exhausted, first thing in the morning, from a typical day of teaching.

And that is why I am retired.

In this article, I describe a classic day of cruising on a premier cruise vessel, Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas. 
You can find it under Non-Fiction/Memoirs/Cruise-Log 2023/Cruise Log - Day 03

If you enjoy this article, please leave a comment or a thumbs up, below.
Dr. P-J
3/8/23 (Two days until my birthday. 72!)

​I started reading seriously in fourth grade. My mother gave me books from the family library that she thought I might like -
Anne of Green Gables series
Emily of New Moon series
Maida Series
I read my mom's old blue Nancy Drew
and the much better girl detective series Judy Bolton (pale green)
Oliver Twist (I quit reading when Bill Sykes killed Nancy)
Little Women - I quit reading that one when Beth died
Great Expectations - delish
Gone with the Wind (read that one three times)
among many others

I frequented the public library in Wenatchee, Washington, coasting downhill from our home on the edge of town, trudging every step on the pedals on the way home the basket loaded down with always the 11 book maximum. Also used the school library, but it had a much smaller collection - though all oriented towards children.
A Wrinkle in Time
The Saturdays (and the rest of the series)
I found in the non-fiction collection a section of fairy tale books and a small section devoted entirely to witches. The Glass Mountain really stuck with me . . .

I've traveled the world and the universe all from a comfy chair, a cool shady spot on a hot day, or branches in a cherry tree so high up that I looked down on the roof of the house.

Dr. P-J

I'm taking a short break from the cruise saga. I think I'm kind of dreading writing about the really awful that happened . . . 
So I decided to write up the recipe for "Quiet Time" Instant Pot Oatmeal.
It's delicious and there are lots of important TIPS in this article.
It's under the "Recipes" pull down or here is a:
LINK 

As always, your author appreciates comments, which can be posted right here, at the bottom of this post.
Dr. P-J
3/5/23 (Five days until birthday number 72. How did that happen?)

Another installment of my cruise log has just gone live.

This is a short article. I was sea sick.
I had scheduled a pedicure (a gift from my children) and went to the phone to reschedule.
The phone rang when I got there. It was the spa.
My pedicurist was sea sick too.
​
I ate in my room - not a lot.

Here is a link:
Non-Fiction / Memoirs / Cruise Log 2023 / Day 02

If you enjoy the read, please leave a comment below.
Thanks.
Dr. P-J
3/3/23

The second installment of my cruise log has just gone live.
Here is a link:
Non-Fiction / Memoirs / Cruise Log 2023 / Day 01

If you enjoy the read, please leave a comment below.
Thanks.
Dr. P-J
3/2/23

The first installment of my cruise log has just gone live.
Here is a link:
Non-Fiction / Memoirs / Cruise Log 2023 / Day 00

If you enjoy the read, please leave a comment below.
Thanks.
Dr. P-J
3/1/23