Preparing for the Next Four Years

Despite the bitter cold and dusting of snow, the roads were not too bad this afternoon, even by our southern sensibility, and so we headed down to the National Mall, hoping that we might find it a little less populated than usual on a Saturday afternoon. And there were considerably fewer folks out and about, but it was still a bit of a challenge to find a parking space, mostly because of all the flat bed trucks delivering and setting up their cargo:

row upon row upon row of porta-johns.

Feasts

At Thanksgiving there is turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes and gravy, of course, but we also have roasted butternut squash, a Brazilian-inspired spinach, yellow turnips, scalloped oysters, and roasted brussels sprouts.

At Christmas it's roast beef and mashed potatoes, but also popovers, asparagus, salad, and a vegan option for the non-carnivores.

On New Year's Day we eat ham, black-eyed peas, and greens, but we add pan-fried chicken, rice, and corn, and this year a little red-eye gravy to spice things up.

And finally, on the twelfth day of Christmas, the Epiphany, which is also my dad's birthday we eat his favorite meal in memory of him: chicken, white gravy, mashed potatoes, and biscuits.

These traditions are both festive and comforting. They connect the celebrations of today with those of yesterday, and draw us close. Tomorrow we will take the tree down and put away the sparkles and lights until next year, and in the coming weeks, as the days slowly lengthen, our meals will become lighter.

But tonight?

There will be gravy.

Hopes Up

"See you Monday!" one of my colleagues called cheerfully as he left this afternoon.

I shook my head confused. "What!?"

He rolled his eyes. "The snow?"

I'm not sure how I forgot about the forecast for a dusting, but this guy's from Pennsylvania! Maybe he had some inside info. "Oh!" I smiled. "Is that your prediction?"

"No," he shrugged. "I was just joking."

Dang!

Saying Hello to a Good Buy

We were shopping over the weekend when Heidi picked up a bright red stool. "Could you use this in your classroom?" she asked.

My eyes lit up. It was candy apple red and strong, but lightweight. Flashy and portable, it was just the thing I had been looking for to move quickly from table to table, sit at eye-level with the kids, and start or join a conversation about their writing. AND the price was right! Ten bucks later I was whistling down the sidewalk of the strip mall and twirling my new little seat.

Well! My stool was an immediate sensation when I brought it into school today. Perhaps my own enthusiasm, as I darted through the room plopping it down with a smile next to this student or that, was part of its popularity, but in any case, my presence was very sought after today, and I had many fantastic discussions about the essays my students are preparing.

In the Early Morning Rain

We were all a little groggy this morning when school reconvened after a nice winter's break. It was still dark outside at 8 am and rain splattered against the windows as I greeted my first reading class of the new year.

"Can we just read?" they asked sleepily.

"Sure," I agreed. "I'll come talk to each of you about the book you've chosen." And so I made my way quietly around the room.

"What are you reading?" I whispered to one girl.

"From Norvelt to Now Here," she whispered back.

"Is that a new one in the Norvelt series?" I asked, thinking of the Newbury-award winner by Jack Gantos, Dead End in Norvelt and its sequel From Norvelt to Nowhere. "I haven't heard of it," I frowned.

"I don't think so," she said, yawning. "It's in paperback." She lifted the book to show me.

I laughed as I read the title:

FROM  NORVELT
TO NOWHERE

"I think you broke that last word up in the wrong place!"

She still didn't get it, and so I wrote both "nowhere" and "now here" on the board.

"Ohhhhh," she said and shrugged. "I think it sounds better the other way."

Double Feature

On the last day of winter break we made plans to see an early movie, and so 9:30 AM found us twirling our umbrellas through a cold and misty rain.

It was just as gray when we emerged from the theater, and on the hike home both of our watches chimed with a text message from a family we are friends with inviting us to go see another movie. The day promised little else, and looking at my watch I saw I could easily pay the bills online before we headed out for our second show.

Sure! we texted back.

Gone Too Soon

With a single bottle of champagne, one last festive meal, a few Christmas crackers, and one more family game night,

Holiday Season 2016?

That's a wrap!