Into the Wild Wood and Home Again

Chilly, overcast, rain possible on and off all day-- it's a day, all right. Hope it's going to clear a bit. G wants to mow the grass. I would love to spend some time on the deck.  And it's Fathers' Day. It'd be nice to spend a quiet-ish day, just puttering on things. We'll see. It won't be warm, that's for sure (predicted highs in the 60s again), but less wet would be nice. The news has been full of water, specifically the reflecting pool (algae, peeling blue liner). Anyone who has ever installed a water feature in their garden, or even has a bird bath, knows that still water grows algae, and if the container is a dark one, and one that has no natural seepage/exchange of water, then the algae will take over rather quickly. And the peeling pool liner? Maybe it's the bleach. Maybe it's the rush job, and there's moisture under the barrier. One thing I do know: no one has vandalized or sabotaged this project that cost us far more than the project...

Chilly, rainy, and seems like it's going to stay that way for most of the weekend. Bleah.  I'll change the filter in the pool and add more chlorine, just to keep up with it, but that water is still dang cold, and no one is going in the pool until the sun comes out and the water is not ...therapeutic.  I'd like to say summer vacation is off to a slow start, and it is, as I count vacation time: little deck time, no pool time. But that's really a narrow view. I've finished a book. The garden looks good. And, despite the very cool temps and the rain, Holly and I have finally found a good rhythm for our days (I think), and we have survived the first week. Next week will be busier, but I think we'll get through it and she'll have a good time.  But today is Saturday, the weather is iffy, and I have not got a lot planned. Just groceries, attending to immediate pool stuff (and G will help me put the cover back on later, he says-- it blew off in the huge wind/rain sto...

Another chilly and overcast start to the day. Another day of taking Holly to swimming lessons. Another day of wanting to get things done outdoors, and hoping for sunshine to take over. Alexander Pope said it best: "Man never is, but always to be blessed."  I can honestly tell you that I'm quite tired. Yesterday was not the quiet and restful rainy day; it was busy, and I'm really wondering what I've gotten myself into. But we persevere. Maybe we can plant the new strawberries today. Holly is a busy, intellectually curious, and chatty child. All good things. But I am having a hard time trying to keep her entertained, as she is not as willing to just go play or draw or whatever by herself as I'd like (we'll work on that). Meg was a far different child, and I'm struggling to keep up. We'll get into a rhythm, I think, and that will help, but I'm really ready for the weekend! Yesterday was not a swimming lesson day, so she did a few things in her pri...

As predicted, it's raining. And also as predicted, I don't mind. Yes, I have some outdoor things to do, eventually, but I could use a quieter day. I hope Holly is up for a quieter day. At any rate, she won't be here for another 45 minutes, so I have my coffee, the dog is sleeping, and it's raining.  I've been busy, as I'm sure you can guess. Most summers (heck, all vacations from school) are packed with cleaning, projects, and running around. I wonder what it's like to just kick back. No one sets my off-time agenda but me, and I am a brutal scheduler. I trace this behavior back to my mother: we had to always, always be busy doing something productive. In fact, that was one of her favorite lines to say, "do something productive." Why must I always be producing results? I mean yes, the laundry is a thing, and the bathrooms, etc., but why can't I just sit and read or daydream without feeling guilty? I'm almost 60 years old, and I don't kno...

I think I won the ant battle, and I have hopes that it's done with. Now, what are we to do with the weather? The pool is up, and it's 44 degrees this morning. That water will never warm up.  And the part of the tree that fell in the rain storm the other night took only 25 minutes to remove: they sawed it up, fed it into the chipper, and off they went. Nice work done.  Holly has swim this morning at 11:30, but the shallow pool they use is not so cold. And it ought to be a little warmer by then. I sure hope so. G is heading out to pick strawberries at 4 Corners; today's the first day of PYO. Then he has a list of things he wants to get done, so I'll just stay out of the way. I have my own chore list, but it's not so lengthy as it has been. I got a lot done yesterday, after I ambushed the ants.  Summer fun. At least I finished reading a book. I highly recommend pretty much everything by Dan Brown, and Secret of Secrets did not disappoint. I think I'll go with a li...

In 1854, Thoreau published Walden , and in it there is a part of chapter 12 that is often read as a sort of stand-alone essay titled " The Battle of the Ants ." In this section, he explores what happens when two opposing factions have a territorial dispute, and he warns that without cooperation, such battles do not end well for any party involved. So be it.  Except. This. Week.  We have a plethora of small "sugar ants," those tiny brown, very industrious and invasive ones. It's been hot, then rainy, and the ant hills in the front walk are humongous. They have begun to occupy the house, as well. At first, I was relatively patient; they usually go away quickly, and I just smoosh the rogue ants as I see them. I'm losing the battle, though. Yesterday, I put out ant bait in the kitchen behind the trash can. This morning, there are so many more, all coming and going through a crack along the base of the wall. Now, I know the house is old, and the additions were no...

Yesterday was pretty good, all told. The homily at church was spot-on; Fr. Rory did a bangin' job of putting out a call to action, I think. He talked about the commissioning of the apostles, that they were to go heal the sick, drive out demons, etc. He reminded us that in the Creed, we profess that we believe in an "apostolic church." And that the original twelve were all just regular guys, some even a little suspect (tax collector Matthew, for example), but they accepted the mission given them. Fr. Rory ended his homily with this: "They all had names. And so do you." Oof. Great ending. (Well, it was the penultimate sentence, but you know what I mean.) We have a job to do, if we truly believe what we profess every time we go to Mass. Fr. Rory enjoined us to understand that we are "born for this" time in history-- as difficult, messy, and scary as it is-- because we have been called to action by our beliefs. No more sitting back wringing hands and offer...

Hey, how about that? The Red Sox won two in a row. The Knicks did their job and all of NYC is excited and pleased. It's good to see a couple of good things in the news feed.  This morning, there were two huge spiders in the bathroom. I did not save them. Squished and flushed, they will not be stalking the toothbrushes or the shower any more. And as the old wives' tale goes, it'll likely rain. Which, truth be told, would be okay, if it washed off the pollen that has coated everything solid. I'm not necessarily allergic to flower pollen (it's probably my roses anyhow), but it does make everything yellow, gritty, and a little itchy. It's tree pollen that gets me going in the spring.  Today, with a little help, we'll get the pool up (I hope it's still okay), and move the damaged glider off the deck. A huge ice chunk fell on it this winter, and it's dented pretty badly. It's also seen better days in the general sense, so it'll be moved down by the...

I'm taking the morning a little slower today-- it's Saturday, the robins are warbling, the cardinals are speaking up ( chit chit chit ), and it's going to be a hot/humid day. But right now, the air is cool, the coffee is hot, and I'm not thinking about school at all. Well, one thing, but that is settled: I negotiated a more convenient start time for when the traveling theatre troupe is coming to our school to do a production of Much Ado About Nothing in September. I put that project to bed for now, and yes...it's summer break. I won't say vacation, because for me, it's a shift in responsibilities and must-do lists. But it's mostly MY lists, not one externally mandated, so that's the "break" part of things.  Today is a long day that stretches before me, and it's primarily populated with checking on my garden boxes and going to the grocery store. I'll likely putter about, but yeah-- flexible time. It's also Pollyanna Day in Little...

 We've hit summer temps-- 66 when I got up at 5am, and foggy/humid. I don't really mind all that much, since the A/C units are in. This 1890 house stays pretty cool downstairs until about noon, but then it gets sauna-like rather quickly. And the upstairs is wretched without A/C. We tried window fans when we first moved in, and that was iffy at best. And ceiling fans just blow dust around, which brings up other issues like dry eyes and throat. So, A/C it is.  I have to go to work today to help clean things up and turn in my paperwork. I'll see if my colleague in the English Dept needs any help counting books. Mine are done. In fact, my everything is all done. That's the blessing/curse of having seniors graduate a week before school is out-- I have had ample time to do the chores.  That all said, I hope you stay as cool as you wish to be. Heaven willing, we'll put up the pool on Sunday, and yes, temps are expected to moderate, but it'll be there for the hot days. ...

So, I called the ophthalmologist from work yesterday morning, right after students left. I had started with eye floaters right before bed the night before, didn't think a lot about it (dust? pollen? eye strain?), but at 3:30 am, the bright light flashes when I got up to use the potty. O damn. And my eyes were super dry. Have been for days. (Again, dust, pollen, dirt, computer screens, grading exams...) So I, of course, went to a reputable medical site (Mayo Clinic), looked up the what it could be, and panicked. I mean, full heart-racing panic. Possible retinal detachment or tear. Get help immediately.  So, I called. I got squeezed in at noon, and after an hour, it was determined that I did, in fact, have a condition.  I'm old.  What the actual hell.   Who knew that as one ages, starting around age 60, the vitreous of the eye starts getting all liquidy, and send out occasional protein strands like freaking New Year's eve streamers. And the flashes are also attributed ...

It's Wednesday, and as per usual, school stuff is still being sorted out. One down side of being connected to the local community college is that their process for managing student enrollment is unwieldy, and I have a student who has been caught in the digital paperwork (is that even a thing?) snarl. He says he's got proof he registered and paid, but yet he's not on my roster. I chased that down weeks ago, and they said he was not a paid student. But he says he's got the proof. I can't fix this mess, and he's trying to register for his college classes for fall.  So, another bumpy landing. I hope that the family and the community college can sort this out. I can't.  Three more days.  I hope yours is a good one. Hug your favorites. Keep the faith. C

Yesterday after work I went outside and, in my slightly plodding way, I got the rest of the garden planted. It's all in the dirt now, and it's up to the garden sprites to keep marauders out of the plants. How I ended up with thirteen tomato plants again, I'll never know. Well, I do know. I want to try this one, then that one, and o, that looks good, too. And G "rescued" a couple of yellow tomato plants... well, if it goes like last year, I'll have more than enough tomatoes to go around. The beans are starting to nose their way through the dirt, and the peas, and omg, I have tiny little beet greens! The lettuce and spinach in the deck box are going well, too. When G got home yesterday, he helped me immensely by laying out the soaker hose, and then the boxes --all of them-- got a good, long drink. Yes, we had a lot of rain this past weekend, but the dirt dries out pretty quickly in boxes.  Next up, the new strawberry bed. It is scheduled to arrive next Wednesday...

At last, the week we've all been waiting for... It's a foggy Monday morning, both outside and in my noggin. What a week last week was, which, to be honest, went along a lot better than I'd predicted. And graduation was good, too. So, now I'm left with two kids in class for the next few days. Today, they will present their projects. Then what?  I'm going to show a film. Okay, one that is adapted from a series of books that I happen to think is insanely fun, Ransom Riggs' Miss Peregrine books. They are technically young adult fiction, but I love them all the same. So, since it's creative writing class, why not?  That said, I am hopeful that I'll finally get the garden finished up. Well, as finished as I can. I ordered another raised bed box (of course I did), this time to plant a whole new strawberry bed. We have a kind of rocky/gravelly area that, at the moment, is hosting a pile of nothing important. But the space is potentially perfect for a new raised ...

Raining. And we had a helluva boomah last night-- lots of rain, wind, lightning, and so on. I hope anyone who was having a grad party had an indoor option. And I'm awfully glad Lisbon's graduation is indoors, too. It hasn't been outdoors since the early '90s-- bugs, rain, and the whole uncertainty of it all forced the decision to make graduations indoors. It makes more sense.  And this week is the last week of school for undergrads. I won't say "classes" because it's just marking time, at least after tomorrow. We have actual gradable things to do tomorrow, but then the Chromebooks are collected on Tuesday, and then we have to figure out what to do with the kids who are left... and I will have exactly two of them, and in my first block class. I'll get my end-of-year stuff done (it's mostly done anyhow), and we'll do who knows what. Maybe I'll cave and we'll watch a movie.  Field day on Thursday is a misnomer for the older kids; it...

It's a grey and damp start to the day, and most of what I want to do today requires being outside. I may have to pivot a lot.  We need to get Holly signed up for swimming lessons, so we'll be off to Lisbon around 10ish. I promised her a lunch date and playing at the playground. Lunch can/will happen, but the playground idea, not so much. I wish there was a child-friendly movie playing at Jax, but there is not. We'll work on it. I just hope she is not too upset if it rains. And it sure looks like rain.  I want to get my garden plants in the dirt, but that is not as likely. Maybe tomorrow after graduation. I sure hope so. This growing season is getting off to a slowish start, partly because I have not been home, and partly weather conditions.  All I really want to do, if I am to be honest, is to sit in my pjs and drink coffee. I'm tired. It's been a very busy week, and I've been out every evening. Today was/is to be a less-busy day, but we'll see about that. T...

It's been a super hot week in our neck of the woods-- capping 85 degrees or more each day. Now, it looks to be a cloudy/rainy/cooler weekend-- figures. Maybe I'll get the rest of my garden in. I hope to. It's all for the best I didn't get plants in the ground-- last weekend, frost. This week, they would have cooked.  I'm feeling a little "cooked" too-- we'll get through the week, the graduation, and next week with some sort of grace and grit.  Wish us luck.  In the meantime, I am having a hard time thinking about the fact that the feds want to somehow tie college programs to potential earnings and apportion or restrict educational loans to those quasi-metrics. If one is going to be an artist, a writer, a social worker-- yeah, pretty much all of the helping professions and the arts-- then funding might not be there. This will really shut down any real progress in the humanities, education, etc. This comes on the heels of the stupid decision to declassif...

Well, another marker passed. Both ball teams lost, so the season is over. (Red Sox won last night, though.) Tonight is National Honor Society induction, and as a faculty sponsor of a delightful young lady, I get to attend and pin her. That will be nice; it's the first time EVER any of my students have asked me to do so, and I'm honored.  And they are feeding us, so that's good, too.  I found my own pin from (cough, cough, 1982 I believe) in my jewelry box. It was a big deal. I hope today's kids think it's a big deal, too. What I recall best, though, from the ceremony I was at is Mrs. Bernadette Chouinard's punch recipe. It was amazing. I asked her for it shortly after, and she very graciously wrote it out for me. (Way to advocate for myself, eh?) Other than that social/work engagement, today should be a lighter day. Seniors have their last academic day today, and we'll be having a round table chat about the things they chose to write about in their final exa...

Wednesday-- Seniors have one more day after today, then it's grad practice and done on Sunday. Amen. The emotions are running high; no fights, but kids are a little wound up. I get it. And today, both softball and baseball have the first round of playoffs. There's a lot going on.  That all said, the best decision I have made in a while (educationally) is to have my AP Lit seniors hand-write their final exam essay. I bought blue books (big ones), pencils, and told them they could bring notes/materials, but NO computers. And they are writing it all in class in front of me. They should also share their draft with one peer for input on content, another for editing suggestions, and show it to me for a conference before it's done. (All three reviewers must sign the blue book, too.) They have been given approximately three class periods to get the essay done-- 5-7 pages (not too much), and they could choose either one work of fiction or 3-5 poems we have studied and write a convin...

It's "hell week" at school, at least for those of us who have seniors. I spent almost two hours last night, tired and fuzzy-headed, grading essays. Normally I don't do those until the weekend, because by evening time, I'm not in a good head space to read/assess student writing. And they were marginal at best. I think they are as ready to say "chuck it all" as I am.  That said, today is a relatively "easy" day for me: work, at which both classes are working on final stuff, then home to do a little more planting of seeds. I researched it, and it turns out that carrots are good friends with peas; I have room in front of the peas to put in a row, so I will. And beets, too. I planted both yesterday in their assigned box, but hey, they can go visiting, too. And G and I will be going to get the rest of the plants I need when he gets home, because there is no other time this week, and I want to get them in the ground over the weekend, probably after gr...

Well, hail. We had quite a boomer/hailstorm come in yesterday around 4pm. Luckily, G and I gave up the garden project when we were getting soaked with rain around noon-- but I did get the strawberries weeded (I think I need to move them to another location later this year), and he got the new garden box assembled and the boxes weeded out for me to plant. I hope today is the day to get seeds in the dirt! It's supposed to be pleasant (mid-60s), so when I get home, I'll figure that plan out. Likely Holly will be helping me. =) I am not so foolish as to have put out tomato plants yet-- we had a full moon (always cold), and the weather didn't look plant-friendly. I have to purchase a few more, and get some hard-shell squash sets as well. Maybe a couple of cucumber sets. But those will not get in the ground for a little while yet. I bought three lovely tomato plants from our church plant sale on Saturday, too. I will not buy as many as I did last year-- I was inundated with tomat...