If I tried to describe these two photographs I suspect I would waffle on for two or three paragraphs. Vibrant colours. summer, natural, wild, rugged, course, memories, wildlife, whistling wind, pastel greens, deep reds, rebirth, life cycle, arcadian , sustainable farming, ruminative, pain of war…..

And when I asked our son his description would be

“Flowers in a field”

You get the picture I waffle and he speaks with brevity.

It was an interesting power struggle at school this week. English was all about informal forms of communication. In particular how to write postcards when on holiday in Spain. Clearly the teacher was looking for postcards in the style of Wordsworth, Keats or Shakespeare. Encouraging the use of words like Majestic, Glorious, Wonderments, Shining, Gleaming, Culturally Enrichments, Golden, Redolent, Effulgent.

Son clearly was in a different narrative time zone.

1st Attempt. Hi. In Barcelona, look it up on the internet, Goodbye

2nd Attempt. Hi. In Pretty Barcelona. It’s got a great football team, Goodbye

3rd Attempt. Hi. Still in Barcelona it’s better than Madrid, Goodbye

Final Attempt. Hi. Barcelona is still in Spain and it’s still better than Madrid. Will phone you on my mobile so not sure why I’m sending a postcard. Goodbye

Luckily the teacher could see the funny side. She could also see the impact of Aspergers and Dyslexia here. To him a stunning deeply evocative blood coloured red flower is in fact a Pentas lanceolata. His bottom. line is let’s just get to the point and less words mean less Dyslexia struggles. Can’t argue with that.

57 thoughts on “Brevity”

  3. It’s kind of silly to ask kids today to write postcards. She should have asked them to caption an Instagram post😂
    Some people just like words more than others. I’m sure your son’s dyslexia makes excess words difficult. He’s got a great writing style though. Just like his dad does.

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  6. Mmmmmmmmmm Waafflesssss….. 😉

    Love your son’s style! 🙂 (Barcelona: it’s better than Madrid!!)

    He really should write ad’s for the Spanish Travel Authority! 😉

    Thanks again for the poppies! 🙂

    But what the heck are Pentas lanceolata??

    Did you mean Papaver rhoeas by any chance?? 🙂

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  8. I am sorry I missed your last several posts. I was scrolling through managing sites when I realized I had not see you for awhile. Popped over and discovered my settings had been changed. I have immediate e-mail set up and somehow it was changed. GRrrrrrrrrr WordPress has a mind of its own some days. So glad to read that your son’s teacher had a sense of humor re his postcards. He has a point though why send a postcard when you can snap a picture and send it to someone immediately?

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  11. Loved his post cards and so glad the teacher understood him! The picture is pretty – and I love how easily he came up with the title. I struggle the same as you!

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  15. Really, who writes postcards anyway. A short cryptic text with a photo is all my adult daughters send from their vacations. There’s are almost, but not quite, as humorous as your son’s. My son just basically sends “I’m alive in blank town” just so I don’t worry. Your son’s got the right idea.

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  17. You and the teacher leave my head spinning and have me reaching for the dictionary. Your son, however, makes sense! So, if I’m to receive a postcard from Spain, please let your son write it … you and the teacher can pay for the postage, but let your son do the writing! Hugs!

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  18. Ah, wish I had the gift of brevity. It takes ages for me to say the simplest things (I waffle).
    The teacher picked the wrong medium… Postcards leave less space than a tweet post for words. Usually, they were assigned to ‘wish you were here…’ sorts of reminders that the recipient is not there, and really, you wouldn’t want them to be either. Does anyone bother to send them any more?
    The World has changed. I think your son is more aware of that than his teacher. 😊

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  19. Haha! Hi there. This made me chuckle—I totally agree with your son.
    Your writings are touching—and relatable. I wish you well on your journey :). And thank you for connecting.

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      1. You are most welcome. Nice traveling all together on WordPress eh? I’ve met some super cool writers here—kind and warm hearted. What is your name?
        🙂 Nina

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