Archive for year: 2021
© Catherine Haslag
©2023 Catherine Haslag, All Rights Reserved.Life is a Chemical Reaction
Life is a chemical reaction.
Sometimes it is a violent combustion reaction, leaving destruction in its path.
Other times it is a very orderly and predictable reaction that precipitates a beautiful outcome.
In every instance, the limiting reagent is time.
© Catherine Haslag
© Catherine HaslagFresh Start
It’s that magical time of year when new notebooks and folders line the aisles and there are 100 different writing implements to choose from – That’s right! Schools supplies are in stores!
I always loved this time of year growing up. By the end of summer, I was always ready to go back to school. See my friends. Return to my school routine.
I reveled in the trip to the store to get my school supplies for the year. All the notebooks, pens, folders, fresh Crayola markers, and cool new Trapper Keepers. I had a Trapper Keeper when I was in elementary school. It was an incredible invention for a school nerd like me. Made me feel like a cooler kid than I really was.
I say “school nerd” because even 16 years after I finished my master’s degree, I still take time to pour through the school supplies each year. I get excited when I see all the new things that have been created. The pretty gel pens, the grid-spaced composition notebooks, and the new organizational supplies for students (though none will ever be as awesome as the Trapper Keeper). I usually leave the store with at least a few new things for me to use.
As a teacher, I live by the semester just as students do. When I was a student, I saw the start of a new school year as an opportunity for a fresh start. New supplies, new clothes, and new opportunities for growth and learning. A chance to be a better me.
I still see the start of the academic year as a clean slate. A chance to do it all over again, and hopefully a little bit better than the previous year. This is a gift.
May we all be given the gift of a fresh start. May we all have the opportunity to do whatever we embark upon better than we did previously.
© Catherine Haslag5-Minute Wonder
When I was growing up, my mom would tell me that it took me 36 hours to be born, but I have been the 5-minute wonder ever since.
I didn’t fully understand what she was saying then. As an adult, I realize that she’s not wrong. I may have taken my sweet time entering this world, but I have been making up for that leisure ever since.
I am a doer. I keep a bullet journal full of my goals, ideas, and tasks. I run on a schedule. I want to get it done, quickly, efficiently, and move on. I would rather work first and play later. I am driven and sometimes impatient. This is a strength and a weakness I am learning to work with.
I have decided to take this idea and use it as a series on this blog called 5-Minute Wonder. These will be short blogs that put an idea out there and then move on. I will tag them all as 5-Minute Wonder so they can be easily accessed together by readers. The posts in this series will appear randomly as I have short ideas and thoughts to share.
I hope you enjoy.
© Catherine Haslag
© Catherine Haslag
© Catherine HaslagOde to the Electron
It’s a very small bit of matter,
9.1094×10^-31kg in mass,
but don’t let its nanoscopic size fool you.
This minuscule molecular
pulls more than its weight.
It is one of three subatomic particles
that make up the atoms
that make up the universe.
When transferred to another atom or shared,
it helps hold everything together.
When focused as an accelerated beam,
it can allow us to see the surface
of cells, crystals, and metal.
It prefers to pair up
and can be very destructive when left alone.
When left to travel
along a membrane in the mitochondria,
Fireworks from the 4th of July, 2006
it helps produce enough power
for you to run a marathon.
And on the 4th of July,
it gets excited, then relaxes
and puts on a pretty colorful show.
So celebrate the electron,
an extremely tiny particle
that performs extraordinary feats!
© Catherine HaslagYoga
There was a new person next to me in yoga class today. Young, about 25, flat stomach, and curves where they should be. Her seemingly perfect, young body makes me very aware of my own.
As I bend into forward fold, I am aware of my ankles. They are my mother’s ankles when she was forty. I don’t remember asking her for them. I prefer she’d kept them.
I become keenly aware as I step back into downward dog that I am not as flexible as I was when I was 30. Did my hamstrings get shorter?
Child’s pose is awkward. COVID weight gain has put my stomach in my way. I have to open my legs wider to let the extra me fall between them.
In high lunge, I stare up at my arms. They are soft. I remember that my arms continue waving after my hand stops. A bonus wave that I wish didn’t exist.
In forward standing A, I get a good look between my legs. My thighs are good buddies now when I walk. They press and rub together. They don’t seem to understand social distancing.
I realize my t-shirt keeps riding up on me when I bend over. I make a mental note to order some long-tail shirts from Duluth Trading Company. I must guard against plumber’s butt.
Forward low lunge requires an extra blanket under my knees so it doesn’t hurt. My hips resist the stretch.
Fierce pose makes my quads burn. They are far from ready for the long days cycling at RAGBRAI coming this July. I am reminded that I need to start training.
Balance poses make me feel strong and competent again. Tree, Eagle, Warrior 3. I flow in and out of them with confidence. Steady. Strong. Focused.
I am sure no one notices my inner turmoil. Everyone in the class is focused on their own, but in my mind, everyone sees my rolls and imperfections. My limitations and gracelessness. All the extra me I wish wasn’t. I feel like I don’t belong here.
But, I do belong here.
This is temporary.
All of it is temporary.
The tight hamstrings, the bonus wave, my mom’s ankles. They will all change. The extra me will melt away as I bike this summer. My hamstrings will elongate and feel less tight. My hips will open to lunges. The fire in my quads will calm. This is where I am now, but not who I am. The day will come when I may not be able to do yoga at all. When I may not be able to bike long distances or even walk short ones.
So I smile at the resistance in my hips, the extra me that rubs when I walk, and the strength in my tree pose. These too are temporary. I will embrace them for the time they are with me.