Here we are again, sitting up straight and getting ready to sing. Today’s tune is one I think I learned in third grade in Miss Lang’s class. She was from Texas and called gym shoes “tenny runners”. She had a sweet Texas drawl, which for a kid growing up in a Chicago suburb was a refreshing sound. She was kind, funny and very dedicated. We sang this song for what seems like hours and hours…laughing eventually as we all got tired of the repeating verses.
I utilized grey, beige, and black ink brush pens to create the random shape. I spritzed it with water to be able to smear the inks together. I then added black squiggles lines and the verses inside the shape.
Do you remember this one?
The old gray mare she
– Traditional Song
Ain’t what she used to be
Ain’t what she used to be
Ain’t what she used to be
The old gray mare she
Ain’t what she used to be
Ain’t what she used to be
Many long years ago…
Third grade is when we learned our multiplication tables. Our first test I failed…REALLY badly. Scotty Gleason sat next to me and graded my paper. He laughed at how badly I did. The next test, I fail again. And Scotty Gleason laughed. At lunch time Miss Lang pulled me aside and asked me to stay after school. GULP! That meant trouble. She sat with me and watched me redo the math test. I was carrying the one wrong…I added it in then multiplied, which of course is totally going to blow any mathematical answers. She then explained to me what I was supposed to do and had me redo the test. I got a 100!!! And she cheered and shook my hand! After that I always excelled in Math…thanks to Miss Lang.
As I look back on significant events in my life I can see where the old gray mare I was is no longer who I am today. Change can be welcomed, it can be hard, it can even be something we fight. Yet no matter who we are today, who we want to be is only a few choices away. Being able to change and update ourselves is part of growing up – sort of like mastering your times tables. Everybody has to do it or fail miserably.
Let me encourage you to leave that old gray mare in your life behind. There is some great adventure waiting on your behalf…all you have to be is willing to buckle down and do the work. And if you need help, find yourself a Miss Lang and let her help. It could change your life forever!
