School Daze!!

Whether I want it to or not, school starts tomorrow morning.

A big thank you to Ella for helping me get my classroom set up and for suggesting a "Getting to Know You" game - I'll let you know how it goes!

I really just have to get through the first day, and then I'm in gear for the year!

Where Nothing is Long Ago

The title of this post comes from the title of a rather interesting memoir by Virginia Sorenson - and it deserves a post all its own. But for now, I want to focus on something that "came" to me today as I drove home from Santa Fe Middle School. I'm sure that part of this stems from the fact that it was 31 years ago this month that we came here. And the weather and sky and school and the town just brings that all back.

Our start-of-school meeting was held at Santa Fe, and as I headed out on to Duarte Road to go home, I was thinking about Ida Smith and her recent death. That thought seemed to segue into thoughts about my first forays into the neighborhoods around Santa Fe's campus.

I was a Primary teacher - back in the day when Primary was held during the week. I was pretty gung-ho and wanted to do the job right, so I took treats to my kids - especially those who were less active. This meant poring over the Thomas Guide to figure out where they lived. And then loading up into that yellow Ford truck we were driving back then. (Dad was still in Utah I think. He didn't join us permanently until September.) Bonny, Harry, Phoebe, and I squeezed into the front - I don't think seat belts were the law then - and roamed about Monrovia looking for my little lost sheep.

Ida was a good friend to me as I adjusted to a move that I had initially been very opposed to. Sometimes I think about how negative I was. I was not very kind to Harry about it either. Everything was his fault. Every bad thing that happened would not have happened if we hadn't moved. I am not proud of my behavior. Sometimes I think I'm still trying to make up for it!

(You all know the story - about how I came to know that it was not only not a bad move, it was definitely the right move! Sometimes we have to trust in something and someone and move forward. But that too is another post.)

Others in the ward were kind to us. I had great, thoughtful, caring visiting teachers who visited every month. I had Jan Holmes for an Avon Lady - how can you go wrong with that?? Polly was our piano teacher - and she didn't just teach us music. Connie Heslop was our baby sitter - kind, quiet, gentle Connie - who didn't feel better around her? Brother Holling was our home teacher - and he came each month with a message and Eskimo Pies! The high priest group leadership was there to unload when we moved in - Aulvie Bourgeous, LaMar Heslop, Ted Elwell, Tom Smith, Bishop Neeley. I was Mildred Muir's secret sister and she became our special friend. Yvonne Jorgensen shared her doll collection with Bonny. Blanche Card was the nursery baby sitter during sacrament meeting. The first Sunday we attended was the confirmation of the Dequer twins. I could go on and on and name names that would send some of you on a trip down Memory Lane. But that will be another post also.

For now, I realize the meaning of Virginia Sorenson's title. The past is always with us; it doesn't take much to call it back.

And aren't you glad for that??

And aren't we all glad Dad felt impressed to move back to California? And aren't we all glad that Grandma Helen found us a rental house in Monrovia? And aren't we all glad that we've been able to stay in Monrovia and build happy memories here??

I am!

Some late night thoughts

When I was out visiting my mom a couple of weeks ago, she commented that her house - the one where I grew up - is the only house on the block that has never been sold. Something I hadn't thought of. And when I mentioned it to Dad, he pointed out that the house to the south of us had never been sold either.

She also mentioned that she'd never lived alone. When my dad died, Donna was living there too. She said, "I lived with my parents until I got married. Then I lived with your dad. And now I live with Donna." I have never lived alone either - unless you count the 6 months in Grenoble when I had a room to myself in the dormitory at the university there. Not that I'm itching to live alone or anything!! Actually I was talking to a friend who has lived alone for 25 years - and she said she still sometimes feels sad about being alone. She said, "You'd think I'd be used to it."

I also thought about the "If you give a mouse a cookie" syndrome. I had one overly ripe banana - so I ended up mashing up two less than ripe bananas to have enough to make a loaf of banana bread. I'll let you know how it tastes. It does smell good baking.

I am impressed anew at how easy it is to forget what seem like essential details. At least they at one time seemed essential. I have been back in my classroom setting it up for Monday's start of school. I can't remember where I put anything!! (We have to pack up our rooms because they are used by other teachers for summer school.) And I need to remember my passwords, not just for the computer, but for the copy machine. Where is the safe place I wrote them down?? And where did I put the pencils??

Speaking of remembering, I continue to run into former students - whose faces are very familiar and whose personalities are engraved in my memory. But not their names!! The latest incident happened at the Street Fair last week. The young man said, "Hey Mrs. Terrill, do you remember me?" I asked him to refresh my memory with his name, which he did. Then he pointed out his infant son to me. And I said, "Are you old enough to have a child??" (He certainly didn't look old enough - nor did the proud little mother of the baby!) He said he was. I hope he was a student of mine 10 or 12 years ago!!

On this chipper note, I will sign off and go check on the banana bread.

Little Bee - some thoughts

I have had this book on my shelf for over a year. I think I bought it at our Book Fair - I like to support the Clifton Middle School Library after all! And occasionally I thumbed through it thinking I should read it. The back cover reviews actually didn't entice me however, and I put off reading it. It was mentioned often, but I received conflicting reviews.

For lack of any other book that caught my interest, I picked it up and started reading. The story line was intriguing, and the writing was superb.

"They say that in the hour before an earthquake the clouds hang leaden in the sky, the wind slows to a hot breath, and the birds fall quiet in the trees of the town square. Yes, but these are the same portents that precede lunchtime, frankly. If we overreacted every time the wind eased up, we would forever be laying down under the dining-room table when we really should be laying the plates on top of it."

Several reviewers called it "funny," but it wasn't at all funny to me. Maybe some scenes were poignantly amusing at some moments, but I don't call that funny.

Another reviewer compared it to Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, and that seemed an apt comparison to me.

It is fast-paced, thoughtfully written, often disturbing, and ultimately a story of human triumph - however fleeting.

The Grandma Summer

This has been a summer of grandmothering - and a very enjoyable one at that!! This week Esme and Annika were here for several days while Bonny went to Girls' Camp with Ara and Ella. So of course we went for manicures!!

The girls chose shades of teal, purple, and dark pink for their nails. (I contrast that with the way I always go for the palest shade of pink!!)

Flowers with a tiny jewel in the middle on the thumb nail were a big hit too.

I sensed that Porter and Harry W. were feeling a bit left out, so I took them to lunch at Wendy's. We had Uncle Noah come along - always lots of fun. I told Noah that I needed to come up with a male equivalent to manicures - and he suggested going for a barber shop shave - but acknowledged that I'd have to wait a few years for that to be a big hit!

Then there's the lovely Miss Isla - who is happy with a smile, a tickle, and "Tom Thumper, Bill Munker, Long Razor, Cherry Bumper. (Tippy, tippy, tippy, town end.)"

Since Esme and Annika are going home tomorrow, Eve joined us for a sleepover - here they are getting ready for the latest installment from Grandpa Bob.

I've never listened in on any of these - they are pretty much off the cuff though. Harry says that they will ask for a repeat of a previous one - but he can't remember the details after he's told them!!

I've reflected often on why I love being a grandmother so much. I was thinking that it's probably because I loved my own grandmothers, and also because my own children seem to love their grandmothers dearly. I certainly want to be in the company of those women!!

Ella comes next week for an early Grandma's Birthday Sleepover, then Eve, Porter, and Harry will be having them. And Calvin is coming this year on his birthday - so we will have to see about a shave and a haircut I guess!!

Where were you a year ago?

Do you play the "a week ago at this time I was . . ." game?

I do.

I find myself saying, "Three weeks from today it will be the short day at Clifton" or "two weeks ago today I was happily hugging sweet Sully."

I just wondered if everyone does it. Or just me.

(The above is from the Clayton Reunion - a year ago last weekend!!)

The Dog Days of August

This is a photo from June - but I did go visit my mom on August 7th - which was also my Grandpa Stevens birthday!! (and Hannah Kerksiek's b-day too.) Just thought a I needed a photo.

I'm not sure where the phrase about the "dog days of August" comes from. And actually, so far, this August is warm but pleasant - certainly not "dog like."

Maybe it's because school will start at the end of this month. Summer vacation will be over. I stayed in bed this morning and finished a novel rather than getting up and being productive. I'm doing my best to thumb my nose at the inevitable necessity of going back to work.

And today the date is 8-9-10.

That's a nice touch.