mid-September

I think fall is creeping around the corner. The weather is really gorgeous right now — sunny, but with a slight chill to make a run through the park pleasant. It’s a very brisk and clear temperature. Sometimes it rains to renew the fresh scent.

The farmers are harvesting their corn. Kevin and I went to the Farmer’s Market this morning, and I had some corn on the cob for lunch. When corn is that fresh, it has a distinctly sweet flavor — not at all like what corn should taste like, but instead something short of divine. We plan to go apple-picking soon, since there’s an orchard nearby. The apples from here are a little bubbly, with an almost champagne-like aftertaste.

Although the leaves didn’t fall yet, I know it’s approaching. If you look closely at the forest trees in the park, they seem a little less green, a little more pale than usual. The mosquitoes have died with the first cold snap. So have the fireflies. The Canadian geese are starting to fly south; they make V-Shaped patterns in the big blue sky.

unemployed

Mr. Goetz [on Career Day]: You don’t seem to have a career! What are you dressed up as today?
Student: I am unemployed!
Mr. Goetz: Oooh, I see. Good costume! Except instead of “unemployed,” we usually say, “between jobs.”

birthday

So, today in homeroom the entire middle school greeted me with a belated birthday surprise. They came in, sang “happy birthday!” and gave me home-made birthday cards while a homeroom student and I sat on my couch stunned. I just got a chance to read them this afternoon, and everyone was so *nice* in them! A lot of good math puns were in there, along with a few comments about what an awesome teacher I am. Aww. I love my students :)