Get out in nature. Go for a walk. Whatever you do, don’t scroll on your phone while you stroll along! Instead, observe the world around you.
Behold the way autumn bestows its first changes to the leaves as they fall to the ground. Keep track of the spookiest Halloween decorations as you wind through the streets. Admire the pumpkin stacks, hay bales, and mums that dot walkways and front porches.
But most of all, remember to glance upwards for you never know what you might see.
Here’s a hot air balloon I saw during my afternoon walk. It was right overhead at one point… so close that I could see and hear the balloon’s burner.
Head over to Two Writing Teachers for more slice of life stories.
I am a literacy consultant who focuses on writing workshop. I've been working with K-6 teachers and students since 2009. Prior to that, I was a fourth and fifth-grade teacher in New York City and Rhode Island.
I'm the author of Craft Moves (Stenhouse Publishers, 2016) and the co-author of Jump Into Writing (Zaner-Bloser, 2021), Welcome to Writing Workshop (Stenhouse Publishers, 2019), and Day By Day (Stenhouse, 2010).
I live in Central Pennsylvania with my husband and children. In my free time, I enjoy swimming, doing Pilates, cooking, baking, making ice cream, and reading novels.
View all posts by Stacey Shubitz
I like how your slice was a list of commands. And then a surprise at the end. So glad you added the photo! As I am reading this, the sun isn’t up yet but I’m now longing to take a walk. THanks for the nudge! After school I’ll definitely hit my neighborhood streets and look up, down and all around.
On a different note, sorry about my post. I’ll be sure to not add a space after the punctuation next time,,,I think that is the trick?!
It was a bit instructive, wasn’t it? 😉
I went in to the backend of TWT to remove the post preview. For some reason, it doesn’t like semicolons and the enter key.
Look up and look down. The last two days at my lunch time walk around our campus I have seen a squirrel (until now I had never seen one in Cambodia) and today I say such a fancy caterpillar. Nature is amazing! Thanks for the reminder to look!
I took a walk today instead of working through lunch again. A honey crisp, the warm sun, and a meander around our campus. It was soul filling. We had a balloon launch near our former home and often saw balloons drift overhead. Never tired of that.
Raising Literate Humans 
Yes to looking up! What an amazing sight! Ruth, thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com
I like how your slice was a list of commands. And then a surprise at the end. So glad you added the photo! As I am reading this, the sun isn’t up yet but I’m now longing to take a walk. THanks for the nudge! After school I’ll definitely hit my neighborhood streets and look up, down and all around.
On a different note, sorry about my post. I’ll be sure to not add a space after the punctuation next time,,,I think that is the trick?!
It was a bit instructive, wasn’t it? 😉
I went in to the backend of TWT to remove the post preview. For some reason, it doesn’t like semicolons and the enter key.
Look up and look down. The last two days at my lunch time walk around our campus I have seen a squirrel (until now I had never seen one in Cambodia) and today I say such a fancy caterpillar. Nature is amazing! Thanks for the reminder to look!
A squirrel in Cambodia! I wonder how it got there.
When I see people wearing earplugs while going for a walk, listening to music, I think if they ever hear the music in nature.
I always keep the podcasts I listen to low enough so that I can hear my surroundings. 🙂
I totally agree. We miss so much of we keep our eyes downcast.
I looked up when I parked my car this morning and saw a gorgeous rainbow!
You’re on a roll. I’ll be looking up tomorrow!
I took a walk today instead of working through lunch again. A honey crisp, the warm sun, and a meander around our campus. It was soul filling. We had a balloon launch near our former home and often saw balloons drift overhead. Never tired of that.