It seems somehow fitting that I end my month of Slicing with another list. This idea comes from Terje at Just for a month.
I spent the month of February angsting about whether I would participate in the slicing challenge this year. I hadn’t blogged since August, and I wasn’t sure I had the time, energy, or ideas for 31 slices. My slicing penpal friends probably got tired of the obligatory “will I or will I not” and “which way are you leaning? Tell me what you’re going to do so that I can do the same thing” paragraphs in my letters. I was leaning heavily toward no until about February 27th.
Still, just in case, just to see, I did a little preparation work on February 15 in my writer’s notebook–a quick list of ideas I could slice about. It turns out there were plenty. And once I did commit, I did what I always do in March: open a document to keep a running list of slicing ideas and potential mentor texts. Of course I generated far more ideas than I actually chose to write about, as I always do. So here are 31 ideas I planned to write about but never did.
- my requirements for bedtime reading
- washi tape
- do I like new hobbies just because I like buying new supplies?
- my favorite mural in Detroit
- 10 things I love about Detroit
- urban trees
- the view out my window
- the art that mattered to me this year
- how I slice–the whole pie, not one piece
- incredible facts about opossums
- my favorite odd object–an embroidered portrait of a German Shepherd
- settling in after moving
- 5 poets I didn’t know last year
- the room I Zoom from
- my favorite city walk
- letter to 2020
- letter to 2021
- what we talk about when we talk about color
- kitchen table
- what my childhood tasted like
- playlist of my life
- conversations with strangers (slices I want to dialogue with)
- one sentence slice
- best self care activities for me
- why I take weekends off from work
- rereading my writer’s notebooks
- where I find book recommendations
- what my students said when I asked about their dream vacations
- 21 hopes for 2021
- depending on when you met me
- top 10 books from 2020
I also never wrote the obligatory slice reflecting on what I’ve learned from another year of completing this challenge. It’s usually a relearning anyway. Here are three things I relearned:
- I really do have plenty of things to write about.
- Writing leads to more writing. There’s a reason we call it a practice.
- March is for slicing so there’s no reason to waste mental energy wondering if I should sign up. I should and I will.
And one thing I learned for the first time.
- As a college professor, March is easy. As a high school teacher, March is kind of hard. Slicing made an otherwise long month fly by and feel restorative and joyful rather than draining.
And finally, a few thank you’s:
- to TWT for supporting all of us in this work of writing and teaching
- to the other 250+ Slicers for writing every day and providing such wonderful material to read
- to my blog readers for their comments and encouragement
- to my mom just for being awesome (and also for reading and commenting and encouraging!)
- to my four lap cats, Smudge, Oliver, Chipotle, and Toast, for their excellent warmth and purring (that’s my lap under all those cats!)
the dirigible plum 
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