It's 1879 and John Muir seeks knowledge. He risks lives to see the Ice Mountain. Will it tell the story of Yosemite's history?

What you just read is my  twitter pitch, my 140 character teaser for my most recent picture book project, meant to entice art directors and agents to touch the heart button during a twitter pitch fest.  When they like my post, they have given me an invitation to submit my work to them with the promise of special attention. 

Crazy, right? It's amazing the impact a tweet can have these days. No names mentioned.

About a week ago I volunteered in my daughter's 1st grade classroom. On Friday afternoons they have been working on a 100 Book Challenge where the children read aloud to adults. Lucky for me, this day included a reward for earning so many brownie points. The children were allowed to bring in a sleeping bag, stuffed animal and flashlight so that they could read in the dark!

What a great opportunity for everyone involved! I really enjoyed having my daughter and several other children read to me. 

What is the best thing to do when the weather snows, sleets, and freezes? Why, build snow forts, of course!  

Several forts are  strategically located throughout our neighborhood right now. It takes teamwork to mine the ice bricks from the plowed debris on the sides of the road. Alliances are made; we hope no faces are broken. This ice is hard!
​
So, be careful if you are walking through this corner of Elkins Park any time before the demolition melt on Monday. Don't say you weren't warned.

John Francis wrote a book entitled Planetwalker based on his experience living for 22 years without riding in any motorized vehicles. My son Dylan and I had the opportunity to meet him on Sunday when he signed our book. On our way to the lecture we hopped a ride on a golf cart across Temple University's Ambler campus. In my focus on trying to arrive on time, I did not realize the irony of our choice until we arrived at our destination.

While I'm not giving up motorized vehicles anytime soon, I am inspired. This man's deliberate choices to walk and to remain silent for 17 years teach me about humanity. I'm glad he now tells his story to share the humor and the wisdom of his experiences. And, guess what. He not only plays the banjo, he paints too!

The heart of his message is that the environment is about how we treat each other. There is a lot to unpack in that statement and I find that the idea is already affecting my work in an insightful way. Thank you, John Francis.

The beating that I've been taking the last few days is bittersweet. My 9 year old son Dylan has not only a good dose of talent in chess, he also has more training than me thanks to the chess club at Meadowbrook, his old school. So even though I am clearly outmatched, I persist. (Isn't that the trend these days?)

Today was our second match this week. I was beaten badly. I made a few good moves, I made several dumb moves, and my pride wishes I could say that I lost on purpose. 

I still hope I might win tomorrow. At the very least I will go down fighting!