A Girl With a Plan

Tell me, what is it you plan to do with you with your one wild and precious life?

-Mary Oliver

This past week, I took a trip in the way-back machine to my school years. My mom, a retired schoolteacher herself, recently presented me with two small totes of my work from kindergarten to twelfth grade. What a hoot it's been to sift through all my papers, checking my report cards for rogue bad grades (7th grade PE and HS Calculus, I'm looking at you), shaking my head over some of the weird things my mom kept, and reminiscing on good times. I have a selective memory apparently, because I only remember the good times.

Mostly though, I was looking for my old writing. Essays, vignettes, stories - I love to see where I came from. The memory totes didn't disappoint: there were some doozies - fiction with questionable spelling and weak plots - but many of the essays had a common theme. See if you can spot it... (that's a trick question - I circled the answer for you)!

My first real payment for my writing...

And finally... how the plan began. My first known story - I was six, and I had just learned to spell (somewhat). Even then, my love for the natural world shines through. I wonder why they all just didn't use the air-conditioning though?!?

Now how's that for making a plan and sticking to it?