13. ❝ Rediscovery

13. ❝ Rediscovery

At age 93, Pablo Casals wrote: "For the past eighty years I have started each day in the same manner. I go to the piano, and I play two preludes and fugues of Bach. It is sort of a benediction on the house, but that’s not its only meaning. It is a rediscovery of the world in which I have the joy of being a part." Morning routines. We all have them though parts change with age. Life with very small children creates one rhythm, teenagers another. Even with no one else to manage, launching the day requires a certain presence of mind. Jim begins each morning as he has for many years—breakfast followed by a spiritual reading and meditation. Written by Anne Ayers Koch. Find more of Anne's writing on Substack [https://anneayerskoch.substack.com/]. Edited and produced by Geoff Koch and Amanda Barranco MORE I begin by writing one letter… sometimes more. It is a habit I began as a young teacher. Hundreds of students passed through my classroom each year. Part of the fun was connecting with them, not just as students, but as people with lives filled with the joy and heartbreak that follow youth like twin shadows. Get full access to River Journeys at anneayerskoch.substack.com/subscribe [https://anneayerskoch.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

12. ❝ The World Comes Home

1971 arrived. I was an expectant mother in a small second-floor apartment behind a gas station in Eugene, Oregon. Our first purchase was a huge desk with a laminated wood top and chrome legs. In front of it, we squeezed a secondhand blond crib, adorned with the teeth marks of its four previous occupants. We figured we didn’t need much else. After all, I first slept in a dresser drawer, so this was an upgrade. On July 20, 1971, I wrote in my journal: Summer is upon us… interminable. The world reflects my own restlessness — what will become of me now that I have set aside one career, well defined, for another, not defined at all? Am I strong enough to be curious, eager for each day — without a pre-designated series of challenges? I dream of writing, but wonder how much I have to say. I dream of art projects — warm, friendly things, and wonder if my imagination can take me there. The change from daughter to mother — what a giant step! Is my stride long enough? Written by Anne Ayers Koch. Find more of Anne's writing on Substack [https://anneayerskoch.substack.com/]. Edited and produced by Geoff Koch and Amanda Barranco MORE Unpacking, I discovered my old stamp-filled shoebox. Sifting through the tiny reminders of time gone by, an idea dawned on me. I might be lost, but the mail would find me. I began to collect postage stamps in earnest. They are beautiful. They tell stories. Former Postmaster General Arthur Summerfield said of them, “The postage stamps of a nation are a picture gallery of its glories. They depict in miniature its famous men and women, the great events of its history, its organizations, its industries, its natural wonders.” I joined the Postal Commemorative Society, which delivered first-day-issue stamps from their point of origin to me for 25 years. No matter where we lived, they found their way… home. Get full access to River Journeys at anneayerskoch.substack.com/subscribe [https://anneayerskoch.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

11. ❝ Moving On

Something was wrong. I couldn’t put my finger on it. What could it be?  Most of my graduate students were Generation Ys (aka Millennials)… born after 1982, raised in a digital world. Slogging through various credentials and degree programs at the end of their long workdays made it difficult for them to focus. The cares and worries of their days came with them every week. Their commutes, their own course preparations and classroom management challenges, and their responsibilities at home hung around them like Marley’s chains in Dickens’ Christmas Carol. For any teacher, it’s a problem. All students are difficult to focus, no matter what their age. I had decades of experience, but it wasn’t helping. Things weren’t going well. Written by Anne Ayers Koch. Find more of Anne's writing on Substack [https://anneayerskoch.substack.com/]. Edited and produced by Geoff Koch and Amanda Barranco MORE To counter the distracted hum and glazed looks, I filled a large easel at the front of the room with “presenting questions” to jumpstart the evening. Written in careful cursive, I reasoned the sheets would become part of the class record and help them remember what we were doing. As weeks passed, the room walls filled with topics from earlier sessions. It was like living inside a house with walls of grace, looping Palmer writing. It seemed like a good idea—sort of like “dinner special” easels in restaurant waiting areas. It wasn’t working. Students rummaged in their backpacks, pulled out papers, laptops, books, talked to each other, or gazed at the clock, willing it to advance. The same few people opened every discussion.  Midway through the term, a 30-something middle school history teacher approached me as I was putting the finishing touches on my easel questions. Twisting his hands, he lowered his eyes. Gesturing at the sheet behind me, I beamed, “Hi Mark. Would you like to add something?” Shoulders hunched, he sighed. “Some of us can’t read your handwriting.” He rushed on, “We only print or keyboard. We didn’t learn cursive.”  I’m not sure which of us was more embarrassed. Get full access to River Journeys at anneayerskoch.substack.com/subscribe [https://anneayerskoch.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

10. ❝ Soul Shaping

One Christmas, Jim brought home a set of calligraphy pens, the least wanted item in his office holiday party swap gift exchange. A beheaded fountain pen and collection of odd-looking nibs, they were left behind by the disappointed recipient. I was delighted. Written by Anne Ayers Koch. Find more of Anne's writing on Substack [https://anneayerskoch.substack.com/]. Edited and produced by Geoff Koch and Amanda Barranco MORE I practiced in the pre-dawn morning hours before the children were awake. It became a time of focus and meditation as I twisted the broad-edged square-cut pen to decorate note cards with sayings I found or had written. In the quiet at dawn, I was not just lettering, but talking to myself. I sent collections on colored linen paper to my parents and in-laws. Most were questions. Among them: “What if the rain never stopped? The earth would turn into one big sponge for wiping the universe clean.” “Who are teachers? The world is full of teachers, each of us for others and ourselves.” “What is soul? Perhaps it is a longing for an Infinite that is elusive in a finite world.” The careful writing helped me think. My answers might be different now but the process still works. Get full access to River Journeys at anneayerskoch.substack.com/subscribe [https://anneayerskoch.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

09. ❝ Looking for Perfect

In the 20th century, handwriting was another place where perfection seemed important, in part because people thought one’s character could be improved by working on one’s handwriting. Alfred Binet, who came up with the Stanford-Binet IQ test, believed there was a “science of graphology” that revealed a person’s character in their handwriting. It is an idea still popular in Europe. Written by Anne Ayers Koch. Find more of Anne's writing on Substack [https://anneayerskoch.substack.com/]. Edited and produced by Geoff Koch and Amanda Barranco MORE My third-grade teacher, Mrs. Taltavall, was a devotee. She took our penmanship lessons as seriously as she did every other content area. A large, florid woman, she stood in front of the class at the appointed time every day, like a dance master before a ballet lesson. She would sway back and forth, arms shooting up or dropping down like an airport ground-crew worker guiding a plane to its gate, as we followed her body language with our pencils. I liked the symmetry and challenge of getting the shapes “just right”… though “just right” never happened. Get full access to River Journeys at anneayerskoch.substack.com/subscribe [https://anneayerskoch.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]