Dog Days of Summer

This last week of summer is my least favorite time of the year. So many goodbyes, so many changes, so up and down, so many feelings to try and figure out. Was it a good summer? Was it a learning experience for the kids?

At the end of the summer, I regard the heat, the tired kids, the mess, the lost appetites and it all keeps me down, and these things shouldn't.

A great and dear friend of nearly 40 years whose life has been very other than my own - she was a Justice Department lawyer in Washington DC and has recently retired - wrote recently to say how different our lives are. And that's true. She is enjoying living for the first time in years. I, on the other hand, have lived for years doing pretty much what I wanted.

And speaking of the devil, tomorrow, Miss Amy and I will be going to Columbus IN for a teaching conference. Because of all the ear infections, the extreme heat, and the short staff, we are canceling swimming for tomorrow. We are having an indoor movie day with all the fuss.

Wednesday will be our last day to the pool, and then on Friday, we will have our last field trip to Pounds Hollow. By Saturday, I will be wondering where the summer went.

I'm not a summer person; I'm a deep fall person, so putting on the swimsuit and the shorts is not my favorite thing, but I think it's important for kids to have a real go, go, go summer.

What I do love are fog, rain, bleak skies, night for day, and that chill that creeps into your bones that only a hot bath can remedy. I'm happiest in wind and sleet, but not snow. I love to sit quietly and write in the deep fall with my door open and the lights off. I rarely turn the lights on.

Recently I got some good news. I published my second book, Porkchops. Porkchops is a slapstick comedy about Catholic parish life. It's a roller coaster novel that empowers women and makes you laugh out loud. The publisher is Whiskey Creek Press. I'm excited. I hope you will visit this site. My book will be there sometime in January.

I've written seven novels over the last ten years. Right now I'm working on one as a catharsis for my mother. Long story. Writing is only one of my interests outside school.

In addition to writing and cool weather, I cook a lot at home and read a lot of cookbooks. Recently, I've been doing some cream cheese work. New recipes to be tested on kids soon.

I read books I've collected over the years that have been published before 1940.

Recently I've picked up the crochet hook again and have been knitting handbags.

My husband and I watch a lot of English movie and TV productions. Otherwise, I don't watch TV at all.

One of my new favorite adventures is collecting odd pieces of china and pottery, napkins, serving pieces, and table linens so that every night when I set my table it's different.

I like gardening, and lately I've been making herb vinegars for the table from my herbs grown in my garden.

The blog takes a lot of time. I read a lot of articles on early childhood education and education in general. I read from many different sites and that takes a lot of time. I think the world of early childhood is confusing to many parents. One hears a smattering of things from the media, but that's not really the early childhood world. By posting the articles I think touch the heart of early childhood, I think ideas can be shared. Ideas are the most important refueling there is in any human ongoing event.

This school year, I hope to write more for the blog, and I plan to share more about the individual children and their accomplishments. It is only through the observation of life can life be understood. That's what Anne Lynch says in Porkchops: "I'm a writer - you know, observation and tattle..."