31 Letters Literacy Project: Day 15 – “Grass”

Day 15 of our 31 Letters Literacy Project is all about being a kid and romping in the grass… or whatever you romped in!

Today’s letter topic is inspired by the poem GRASS that we bumped into on Day 15 of 365 Days of Literacy for Kids:

GRASS by Kim Su-yeong

The grass is lying flat.
Fluttering in the east wind that brings rain in its train,
the grass lay flat
and at last it wept.
As the day grew cloudier, it wept even more
and lay flat again.

The grass is lying flat.
It lies flat more quickly than the wind.
It weeps more quickly than the wind.
It rises more quickly than the wind.

The day is cloudy, the grass in lying flat.
It lies low as the ankles
low as the feet.
Though it lies flat later than the wind,
it rises more quickly than the wind
and though it weeps later than the wind,
it laughs more quickly than the wind.
The day is cloudy, the grass’s roots are lying flat.

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How often do we walk on, through or in grass?  How often in our lifetimes has grass given us a place to play or imagine or rest, even?  How much do we long for the green of grass when the winter winds and snows turn all the green to white?

How often do we think of grass and its beauty?  Think about a time in your life when grass was special and kid-inspired rather than something to keep neat and trimmed for the neighbors!  Grab this time and capture it in a letter to your kids or grandkids or a very special child in your life.

Here is my romping letter to my grandchildren:

Dear ____________________________,

Hi, my little darlings!  March is marching along pretty quickly… and we are already almost half-way through our 31 Letters Project!  Wow, does time fly!

Today, I am writing about pickleweed.  I’m sure your asking, “What is THAT?” and “Why are you writing about it?”

Well, when I remember my childhood, and especially playing outside, I think of pickleweed.  Don’t get me wrong…. everywhere I lived as a child, we had grass… lots of grass.  I played on it, in it and romped through it.  I sat on it, rolled on it, hid in it and sometimes even mowed it.

But pickleweed is what I had the most FUN with.

In California, I lived in a neighborhood where there were lots of hills.  There were rows of houses on one street, then a big hill, then another row of houses, and another big hill… on and on and on.  Sidewalks with huge cement staircases connected each street.  I lived near the top of the series of hills.  On each side of the staircases was pickleweed… for as far as you could see.  Pickle weed is a low-growing, spreading shrub.

Pickleweed looks like this:

And the hills of it looked something like this:

All the kids in my neighborhood would get cardboard boxes and slide down those pickleweed hills… almost like winter sledding in New England!  The only problem was that pickleweed is kind of like a pickle, all wet inside… so when the pickleweed broke, the cardboard boxes got wet and then wouldn’t slide anymore!  Each cardboard box was good for about ONE slide down ONE hill.  We certainly treasured getting a cardboard box for all the fun it would bring.

It’s funny how we remember things that were so very simple, but so much fun!  Pickleweed and a cardboard box!

What’s your favorite simple outside activity?

Love forever and ever,

Grandma Couto

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MAIL TIDBIT of the DAY: The United States Post Office is obligated to serve all Americans, regardless of geography, at uniform price and quality.


About Audrey

Audrey McClelland has been a digital influencer since 2005. She’s a mom of 5 and shares tips on her three favorite things: parenting, fashion and beauty. She’s also a Contemporary Romance Author.

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