Clinton Township Newsletter

3 a u g u s t 2 0 2 5 CarolBeder ' s DAYS TO KEEP IN MIND Fri August 1 World Lung Cancer Day Sun August 3 American Family Day Mon August 4 National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day Thur August 7 Purple Heart Day Sat August 9 National Book Lovers Day (!) Tue August 12 Middle Child Day August 14, 1945: Victory Day (commemorates the end of World War II with the surrender of Japan during the war.) Fri August 15 Assumption of Mary Fri August 15 National Relaxation Day Thur August 21 Senior Citizens Day Tue August 26 Women's Equality Day (in the United States it's a day to commemorate the 19th amendment of the Constitution which, in 1920, gave women the right to vote.) Sun August 31 International Overdose Awareness Day This month's cover follows the August theme that I've used for the last several years: summer reading. Just so you know, no AI was utilized for this cover; I designed it the old-fashioned way, with Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator. When our youngest child was little, he loved to challenge us to a game of Eye-Spy, and he knew how to win every time, by finding the tiniest bit of color he could. "Eye spy with my little eye, something black! Nope, not that... not that either... (and, after about ten minutes of this) "It's the corner of that girl's eye way back in the background!" Want to play an easier game of Eye-Spy with your child? Ask them if, on the cover, they can find: Wasn't it fun being able to read anything we wanted in the summer, unburdened by the demands of school? As a child, I would take a book up into the tree in our backyard and read in the crook of some of its branches, many feet off the ground. Thinking of doing that today makes me feel achy and, I wonder, how did I manage to stay balanced all that time? My fourth-grade teacher, Mr. Mooney, had us write a paragraph each night for a creative writing exercise, and we certainly did get creative, with tales of flying school buses, talking and flying pets, and plenty of encounters with rock bands from the sixties. He was so into rock and roll music of that period that he worked it into his lesson plans and played it while we did classwork. For example, once he had us memorize and recite, in front of the class, the words to the 1967 song by Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues, "Tuesday Afternoon", written while sitting in the middle of a field near his home in England, on a beautiful spring afternoon, his acoustic guitar in hand, and the song just came to him. (Wikipedia) Mr. Mooney explained to us that song lyrics were like poetry, and each of us then had to, He was right, in my opinion; check out those lyrics on page 15 of this issue. Of course, we kids thought this teacher was awesome. Unfortunately, many parents were unhappy with his unconventional teaching methods, and he only lasted two years at our relatively conservative little school. (This was almost three decades before the movie, "School of Rock," by the way.) If your child comes to you and says, "I'm bored." challenge them to write a story that goes with this cover... and send it to me! Who knows, maybe they'll see their writing published. I hope you all have a peaceful month, filled with quiet, respite, and imagination, and don't forget to take the time to read... for pleasure! –Julie Flynn -- butterflies? -- orange fish? -- dragonflies? -- stars? -- a blue swan? -- blue fish? -- a colorful dragon? -- a magical horse? -- floating ships? -- a castle? -- colorful bubbles? -- the moon? -- a lavendar pea hen? -- an orange egret? -- a swirly rainbow? -- an open book? -- closed books? -- two chicks? -- a circular labrynth? -- lots of flowers? -- and swirlies?

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