Into the Wild Wood and Home Again

Song: Simple Gifts (ft. Yo-Yo Ma and Allison Krauss) Rainy/damp start to this Sunday. I'm glad we don't have plans to go to the fair or any other outdoor-specific stuff. It's supposed to be nice later on, though, so G can likely finish the woodshed and put the first ton of pellets under cover. We'll be getting two more, but not until November-- they are backordered. But we are on the list, so we'll get 'em. The price on pellets is relatively stable, but omg the price of heating oil is horrid. We got the tank topped off the other day, and it was 5.65.9 (why can't they just say 5.66?) a gallon. Ugh. To hear over and over again that the "conflict" (war) in the Middle East is "small potatoes" and to be told that someone in a high place just won't believe that all of this upheaval is disrupting people's lives/ wallets is so irritating.  Nothing is safe, eh? Food, medicines, transportation, costs of basic needs... it goes on and on and...

I seem to be picking up the serious, melancholy, and thought-provoking in everything lately. G and I went to see an amazing production of Putting It Together , which strings together Sondheim lyrics (no spoken dialogue the entire show), and traces the inner workings of two couples' relationships set in a somewhat fraught "party." The voices at Weathervane are amazing, and Sondheim's lyrics and the score are always a little tinged with danger, sadness, and what I'd rather call the sound of the human condition. That said, if you are local and without something to do right away, go see it. They are only doing four shows.  What was particularly show-stopping, for me, was when Marisa Kirby (she's a powerhouse) nailed " Could I Leave You" from Follies. Breathtaking. And thought-provoking; relationships, especially long-standing ones, are never all hearts and flowers. There's a lot of incidental, accidental damage that happens, too. Where you go from t...

It's finally Friday, and it's been a really brain-draining week. I'll get used to the mental load, but this week, I've been particularly tired. My eyes are tired, too, which does not help a whole lot. That all said, hooray, we made it! And tonight, G and I have theatre tickets to see what is essentially a Sondheim review. I'm excited.  And hey, the Red Sox pulled out a win. What with changes to the lineup and key players getting on the injured list, we're limping into September. And so it goes, most years.  The national/international news is fraught with horrible things, each day getting more and more dystopian. Usually, we can turn to literature to see how people survive this sort of thing. If they do. I can't find too many inspiring stories, and that's troublesome, as well. I wonder what the literature of these times will look like? I mean, what comes after dystopian literature? There's apocalyptic, but sheesh, no one makes it out of that situation...

Finally, a day when the sophomores were talking. Woo! And the juniors in APLit are doing well, too. Maybe we've found a rhythm?  And it's rainy. And it's still summerish. Tomatoes are still producing, I have to check on the late beans, I have to snip herbs, I have to hope that there's some squash in the tangle (though I dunno what's up...lots of blooms, not a lot of fruit, even though they are right next to the bees). No beets. A few carrots. A few cukes, though they went ball-shaped again. The garden is looking tired, and I have to admit, I understand it completely. So am I. Still, there is a three-day weekend coming up, and the reset that I need will happen. I say will, not might. I want to bake some bread, I want to work on my book, and I need to sort out some clothes in my closet. Work clothes for warmish weather-- in other words, put away the super casual summer stuff, the stuff I didn't wear but might have, and bring to the front all the things I can wear ...

Finally, I got up at the time I should, and I have a few minutes of grace to collect myself before catapulting out of the house. Getting back into the school-time routine takes a bit, especially now-- I'm not young and full of zip. I'm older, and really wishing I could just hang out and drink coffee and watch the birds. It's unfortunate that those who can afford to do jack-squat with their adult lives are plotting to raise the retirement age again. I wish them dysentery.  Anyhow. We move along with Grendel and Chaucer and so on with the Brit Lit kids. A few talked yesterday, so I'll count that as a win. AP Lang is a lot more fun; those kids are fun to be with, they get stuff pretty quickly, and they talk.  Yes, I want students to talk. I am not in the biz to pontificate. I want to know, first hand, what they see, what they question, what they are confused by. Sitting like a group of avocadoes in the rows is no help to anyone.  And you'd think I'd welcome some qu...

 We went to see Coyote vs. Acme last night. I expected to laugh, but I didn't expect--and truly appreciated-- the more serious points that the movie made. Yes, there was the usual zany Looney Tunes stuff, but the why behind all of the physical damage to the cartoon characters is what underpins the film. The movie makes a stronger point about how the "little guy" (average citizen) is just training ground for large corporations, that the damages are part of the process, to secure safer/better things for those with more power and influence.  Wow. Social commentary. Go see it.  And on another, sadder note, the poet Wendell Berry has died. His poem "The Peace of Wild Things" has been an anchor poem for me for a good many years. A kind, gentle, environmentalist-farmer-poet who saw the world around us as a gift to be treasured, to be comforted by-- he will be missed immensely.  Have a good day, friends. I'm behind my time yet again. Ever have one of those days wh...