Esquire Coffinberry's Great-Grand-Niece

In this month's ABA Student Lawyer , the Legal Writing columnist reminds us that "[t]o become a better writer [one must] become a better, more attentive reader." There are some writers whose writing I really love to read. One of those writers passed away today, and I am sorry that there will be no more to read from her (in this life, anyway). She captured my imagination, and fired my heart with possibilities. I am grateful for her joyful work. Rest in Peace, Madeleine L'Engle.

The bad word of the day? Lay-off. aargh....

You know: the sound the chain makes, pulling the rickety old Cyclone at Lakeside up the hill, in those scary moments of heart-pounding anticipation just before you crest the top, ready to be launched breathlessly down the hill and whip-lashed around the corners. That sound best describes how I feel these last few days before the 3L year. I'm buckled in for the ride, knowing I hate the drop, that I'll have a headache for days from the jerking turns, and I'm scared to death . . . but I wouldn't miss the thrill for the world. Okay, hands up now... and ... scream ....

Mama and Papa Bird have been very busy. See what they have wrought. In other news, another Glorious Fourth has come and gone, this one unspoilt by rain, but blessed with a spectacular sunset. All our nestlings joined us for the event, along with several friends and their families (twenty-seven of us in all), in that same-old-place. Spent the weekend camping. Son two, who had to work late at Texas Roadhouse (he has a job bussing tables now), drove up near midnight, and delighted us all with his presence. We grown-ups spent the day geocaching on four-wheelers, and had a blast.

My oldest son gave me a hanging plant basket for mother's day. Well, we had to quit watering, and today, we can explain why. This is the view out my kitchen window. I believe there are four baby house wrens in this nest.

These are the sights you see.

My Mom, my sister, my brother's oldest daughter (and me--I'm the one playing the guitar). Where was my daughter during all this? Outside, in a pouring rain, by the pond, more interested in catching fish!

In the back-country of south-east Iowa stands a little red-brick Methodist church I remember well from my childhood. Beneath an ancient pine out back, many of my kin are laid to rest. Coming in the vestibule, I walk beneath the bell tower, where my grandpa sometimes let me help him pull the rope to ring the big bell that reminded the farmers round about that it was time to get going to church. On one wall is a big chalk drawing of praying hands; behind the pulpit is a print of DaVinci's Last Supper. A pair of enormous stained-glass windows grace the sanctuary; the south window features a crown and a cross, the north bears a cluster of Easter lilies. This is where my grandparents and great-grandparents (those descended from the Coffinberrys) worshipped, where my father and aunts and uncle learned their lessons about Jesus, in the Sunday School, downstairs in the basement. When I was a little girl, we'd go to church with Grandpa and Grandma. My grandparents would often sing for t...

All the hoopla in the news about the National Spelling Bee brings it back for me . . . and the dreaded word in the Indiana State finals was "Whippoorwill." So, to all the devastated ones who hit a wrong letter or have your mind go blank, I offer this cheerful consolation: Life is not over. You, too, may someday get into law school.

My mom brought six children into the world: I am the oldest. There was a seven-year gap between the first three and the second three. Each of the first three was subsequently assigned to help take care of one of the second three (in order, of course), so we joke today that the way each of the younger ones turned out is somehow related to the personality of the assigned older one. Here is my little brother (the one I was assigned). He is the one smiling at the camera. I think he is cool.

Tonight, daughter-one-and-only is playing "Mrs. Coffman" in a school play about the history of our town. So she needs to dress up in a costume reminiscent of the 1880s. She had a bonnet, bought last time we passed through Amish Country; so I got out some spray starch and the iron and stiffened the brim. But we were having trouble with the dress. No skirts were long enough, and I couldn't find the long apron that had been in the dress-up box. While I looked elsewhere, I told her I thought I had an old shawl that might suit, and sent her to my closet. She went pawing through, and came up with a dress I'd hand-made for myself out of pink and white calico back in the summer of '85, (I was dating her dad back then, I think he kindly gave me a ride to the fabric store in downtown Provo to buy the materials), when the prairie style (with the big shoulder ruffles and waist bows) was in fashion. I forgot it was there. Well... the dress was a misses size 12 (doesn't qui...

As I was folding laundry this morning (our king-size bed is the place I stack it... six people's stacks, plus towels, tablecloths, kitchen linens, etc. take a lot of space), I noticed the pile of books by my bed. These are the books I've read since winter break (which also goes to say that I've not cleared things up and put them away since winter break either) : Blue Shoes and Happiness The Sunday Philosophy Club Friends, Lovers and Chocolate Justice for All: Earl Warren and the Nation He Made Spencer W. Kimball (another biography) Eragon Eldest Plus a re-read of Half-blood Prince (out loud) , and the Pauline Epistles, James, Peter I & II, John I, II, & II, Jude & Revelation. Oh yeah, and a couple of text books.

There are a lot of water analogies used to describe law (any) school experience. How are you doing? Swimmingly, up to my eyeballs, deluged, swamped, just above sea-("C") level? I'd say I've been barely treading water. Which is why I have found Matthew 14 on my mind so much lately. It is late night following a long, eventful day. Christ and his disciples learned that morning their friend (mentor, cousin) John has been beheaded in prison. Despite their sorrow, crowds have pressed them for more-- of whatever it was that only He could give them -- thousands find sustenance in a few loaves and fishes. Having fed the multitude and now spent and exhausted, Christ separates himself from the throngs for a moment, perhaps to grieve alone. The disciples set off in a ship. In the dark, the voyagers see something unusual above the water. Is it a ghost? they wonder. Soon it is close enough for Peter to realize: it is Jesus! Come to me, He invites Peter. And certain of the ability t...

Check this out: http://www.longmontfyi.com/multimedia/20070325_GALA_PERFORMANCE_2007/

It was suggested in Admin Law the other day that Dr. Seuss' book The Lorax (Random House, 1971), anticipates the frustration expressed by Justice Douglas' dissent in Sierra Club v. Morton (U.S. 1972) (trees don't have standing to protect themselves from development). That got me to thinking how many other Dr. Seuss books likewise illustrate law course principles. Here's a few (can you think of others?) Thidwick, the Big Hearted Moose -- Poverty Law: the principle of Conditional Reciprocity The King's Stilts -- Professional Responsibility: Rules 5.2 (responsibility of subordinate) and 8.4 (misconduct) Horton Hatches the Egg -- Family Law: Best Interests of Children standard Horton Hears a Who -- Professional Responsibility: Rule 1.3 (diligence) I Can Lick Thirty Tigers Today -- Professional Responsibility: Rule 1.1 (competence) The Alphabet Book -- Torts: Product Liability (remember? Big S, little s, Silly Sammy Slick sipped six sodas and got sick, sick, sick....

Those who have been reading this blog for a while will remember Grandpa's sudden visit (see July '05). We received word tonight that Grandpa has passed away.

Daffodils are blooming... and so is one of the crab-apple trees down the street. With all the rain we had over the weekend, suddenly everything is green all over. It is insanely busy. CSAPs occupy the younger two. (In case you hadn't noticed, St. Vrain School District is not on the same spring break schedule as CU... so I'm out of school for the week, but they're in. We'll trade places next week.) Son Two had a concert last night, and it was quite nice, but very long (2 and a quarter hours, beginning with "Ode To Joy" from the 6th grade orchestra). Yesterday, I studied Evidence, and laid out my preparations for the last few weeks and for final study. I had hoped to work on my Education Law outline, but the Sony repair guy called and said the part came in early (yes, my computer fan, like the fans on so many of the other laptops bought by the class of '08 in the summer of '05, decided to quit working last week... I've been keeping it on ice all wee...

Son-Three all morning has been greeting anyone who will listen: "Happy Pi Day!" And in celebration of the big event, wore this shirt to school today. He wanted to do something special at 3:o9 this afternoon to celebrate, in addition to having pie for dinner. Alas, he is headed to the dentist to have his braces tightened. It is sometimes a bummer to be 13. Edited tonight to add: Son-Two stood up in the middle of class at 1:59 PM and announced "Happy Pi Day." Fortunately for him, it was pre-calculus, and the teacher was so delighted that he awarded Son-Two extra credit. Of course, the other high school juniors just rolled their eyes.

At least, not for me. For the first time ever, I stayed late at the law building last night. I just needed to get my mind in an uninterrupted groove so I could get a moderate-sized albatross off my neck. And to my relief, that bird has flown. On tap today: son-two is competing in solo-and-ensemble contest, some time in the middle of his symphony rehearsal. He went out the door dressed to the nines; and came back 10 minutes later to fetch something really important , his viola. Oops. Later today, he's digging post-holes and setting fence with a youth group from church. Daughter-one-and-only has just run outside to play with the little girl down the street. And son-three has a report on Denmark he's finishing up. Mr. Coffinberry is holed up with a digital-signal-processing project for our small business, but he'll eventually surface, and we'll probably make time to go out together someplace. Meanwhile, I've got about eight loads of laundry to fold and a house to tidy ...

There are days when the list of things to do is just too long, you know? I am going to be so amazed when May gets here, and all this is behind me. It's sort of like hiking up a mountain -- when you first start out you think "I've got to climb that???" Then when you're at the top, "Wow! that wasn't so bad. And look at that view!" Until you turn around and see there's another mountain yet to climb. Went to a church ladies' auxiliary group meeting t'other night. Won a silent auction bid, one hand-made girl's dress from materials and pattern of my choice. I knew daughter-one-and-only would like an Easter dress (and I just would not have time this year to make one). So last night, instead of studying, we went shopping for pattern, fabric, and notions. The pattern was quickly selected, but we spent an hour and a half walking circles around the brightly colored woven goods. At last she made up her mind. It will be a dress unlike any other, ...

My brother and his wife welcomed a new little one into their family yesterday afternoon. He is big (9 lbs 15 oz, 22 1/2" tall) and healthy, and received with much joy. Here the baby is with his big brother (notice the matching red hair). New nephew also has three older sisters. In one of those strange "Circle of Life" things, it's but five weeks since saying good-bye to their oldest son, here now it is time to say hello to their youngest. Not a replacement, but someone new to love.

It was a day-off from school for my young'uns yesterday, so we went to the movies in the afternoon. We chose Bridge to Terabithia . Warned by Son-Two that it was a sad movie (he had taken a date to see it last week), we went anyway. It was a good movie, excellent really. But maybe we weren't ready for it yet. I'm telling you, seventh graders aren't supposed to die. And when they do, the tears just flow like crazy, and it feels like there is nothing that can ever make sense of it. Here's another thing on my mind: http://www.galluppoll.com/content/?ci=26758 . I'm not sure what I think about it. I guess in the calculus any person engages in to make sense of their day and the people they meet, many little things factor in and add up: a plus here, a minus there. And when you're talking about an amorphous group of people you don't know, all you have are snippets of vague understandings to attach to them. So I suppose its not such a surprise. Maybe the informat...

Trying to get the rules of the cases in my head for Religion Law and Education Law (which started off the semester canvassing very similar issues), I have come to wonder just how much J.K. Rowlings knows about U.S. Constitutional principles. Wasn't one of Dumbledore's passwords early on "Sherbert Lemon"? And I am going to feel so-o-o much better when I finally kick this sinus cold.

Yeah, so over on the cubLAWg everyone whines about grades, and I was whining about parking and what a travesty it would be if I had to do something so difficult as walking from lot 416 to the law school, rather than 402 (poor poor pitiful me). But walking that far ain't got nuthin' on trying to wrap my skull around the rules of evidence. It feels like I keep trying to stuff 'em in, but they keep falling out the other side. But you know what? Evidence, and Law School, ain't difficult. Nope. Unh-huh. Not a bit. Not compared to parenting teenagers. Compare d to that, law school is a piece of cake. Parenting a teen is a little bit like discovering a butterfly emerging from chrysalis on a meadow-clearing bulldozer on a windy day--you can't do nothin' about the meadow, but you can do something about the chrysalis, only then you've got to hold it gently as the butterfly emerges. You cannot help it emerge, but you've got to shield it from the windstorm long enou...

Friday is still pizza and movie night at the Coffinberry home. So last night it was a large four-meat pizza (for son-two and son-three), a small south-western pizza (chosen by yours truly), and a barbecue chicken pizza (daughter-one-and-only and Mr. Coffinberry's choice). Picking a video at the rental place is always an adventure, but we got there early enough yesterday that the new releases had a few left. We enjoyed both "Flushed Away" and "Man of the Year." It was nice to laugh, a little. This has been an excruciatingly hard four weeks, and we needed a lift. So, as people celebrate the Academy Awards tomorrow, here's a big thanks to those who make great movies for our pleasure!

The snow has retreated half-way across my front yard; it's supposed to get up to 58 degrees today. I noticed, where the ice had cleared from the flower bed, that the first tips of the daffodil shoots were just barely poking up above the ground, a brilliant yellow from the absence of sun during the last 61 days under the snow. My son got out his rollerblades Monday. My daughter was out riding her bike. But there's still 12 inches of snow on the yard on the north side of the house. So spring isn't here, quite yet.

Long time, no blog... From my point of view, the adage is true, at least so far. 2L definitely has been a work-you-to-death kind of year. In a good way, that is. (Although I did get chastized by my husband this past weekend for working so hard that I was starting to get sick, and I couldn't find time on my schedule to get over to the doctor's....) I think I'll be ready for a little bit of "bore you to death" next year, just for the opportunity to breathe! But as before, I'm still having a blast. The concepts I encounter in class linger in my mind long after the books are closed, as I ponder how the pieces fit together. Hang in there, all!