Susan Brandt's Page

June 25, 2009

I was blessed to be a teacher. For more than ten years, being involved with students as their language arts and social studies teacher gave more to me than I could have ever given to the kids.

First, I loved what I taught. I love literature and writing, so having the opportunity to open the doors of young people’s minds to the very thing which made my life joyous was a gift to me.

Second, I have always been entranced by history. The woven texture of man’s development and culture… Continue

It’s a school in my backyard. All sorts of critters are learning lessons in survival. Squirrels dash through the tree branches to snatch fruit and avoid the sharp eyes of hawks surveying the hillside. Mocking birds seriously swarm and attack big black greasy crows too near their nests. Cottontail rabbits scoot under sheltering groundcover after munching holes in the grass.

But, by far the most entertaining training I have witnessed involves a lizard family and my charming young goldendoodle, Ja… Continue

So, I watched a PBS TV show last night which my husband had recorded for us. It was an old show, and the host/narrator has since passed away. It was about major Los Angeles landmarks which weren’t there anymore.

Most of the time, I find these retrospectives only mildly entertaining, as I am one of those people who likes and welcomes change. This one, however, struck a major chord in my soul, recalling deep and important family connections and a time long since passed.

As I watched, a proper wo… Continue

My childhood was rather sterile. It wasn’t really bad; there were many rich textures made by bright characters who moved in and out of my life. But, given the vast input we have today from our multicultural society, I have to say my youth lacked these vivid and colorful attributes. I was definitely monocultural. And white. (That may be redundant)

That is not to say I was brought up to be prejudiced – quite the opposite. My parents valued education to the extreme, and wanted me to be well educat… Continue

My mom and I didn’t have a close relationship. We were very different people who managed to navigate around each other as long as there was a goodly amount of distance. Looking back, I can only assume we just had vastly different values, and when that mixed with normal developmental conflicts, there just wasn’t much commonality. I loved her, but I never really did “get” her.

She seemed so fussy and focused on being proper. I wanted to ride my bike or go to the beach.

And, like many women, I wa… Continue