Many Happy Hour Returns

On a whim, we invited several neighbors over for a Friday happy hour today. It was a little stressful wrapping up as many loose ends as I could at school before dashing off to the store to buy some fun adult beverages and ice, and then rushing home to pick up, vacuum, and put some hors-d'oeuvres on the table. And did I mention that most people were bringing their dogs?

But it was genuinely all good. Everyone brought something for the beverage cooler and the table; the dogs had a wonderful time, and so did we. At 9:15, when the last guest walked home, there were still a lot of cans and bottles in the melting ice, but that just means we'll have to have another get-together soon.

That Sinking Feeling

The message was as astonishing as it was unexpected: our street was closed because of a sinkhole. Soon someone sent a picture of a gaping hole in the asphalt. we were on the way home from school when we received the news. "Siri! What causes a sinkhole??" Heidi asked, and read the internet article out loud as we drove.

As soon as we got home, we leashed up the dog and walked down to take a look. On the way, we were joined by a dozen neighbors, and we could see several more down by the yellow caution tape. "It's the biggest tourist attraction in the neighborhood!" I said.

And to be honest? It was pretty amazing. 4 feet in diameter and probably at least ten feet deep, it widened out, cave-like from the opening. The cause was impossible to determine by looking at it-- there were no water main breaks or fallen trees. Inside, the soil was perfectly dry, as if this little grotto had been hidden there for years, just below the surface of the street.

And maybe it had.

Second Week Slump

The first week of school is exciting and novel-- everything is new, and the possibilities seem unlimited.

Reality casts a bit of a shadow over the second week of school; things get real pretty quickly, and there are standardized tests, homework, and less forgiveness for failure to follow the procedures and rules. And just as we are testing the students, some of them are testing us, because we still don't know each other.

It helps to remember that most people who give you a hard time are probably having a hard time themselves.

Go with the Flo

Fifteen years ago school was closed to allow people to hunker down in the face of Hurricane Isabel. We were lucky back then; the power never even flickered, but other folks in our small county were not as fortunate, and we had a couple days off to allow everyone to get back on their feet.

Heidi and I took advantage of our unexpected holiday to go get a puppy, and she was our first dog, Isabel.

Since then, storms have threatened but never actually closed down the schools. This weekend that may change, though, Hurricane Florence is on her way. Today all the models seem to agree that Florence will be a minor event in this area, but I guess a monster storm like that can never be completely predictable.

Could there be a canine Florence in our future? Let me double check the European model.

Winning Combination

Today was locker day, which is a really big deal in sixth grade. The students look forward to receiving their lockers with a mixture of glee and trepidation-- they desperately want a small piece of real estate in our crowded and cavernous building, but the concept of a combination lock is completely new to most of them.

We do our best to prepare them for the experience of standing shoulder to shoulder with the rest of their classmates, spinning their dials precisely to align the levers and free the shackle from its latch. There are printed directions and verbal reminders, like left to the second number and stop the second time and right to the third number right away. We also do individual tutorials, calling out the exact movements and numbers to the student as he or she attempts to open the lock.

Even so, they have to be able to tell left from right for our coaching to be meaningful in the least. "You're left-handed? Cradle your lock in your right hand," I told a student this morning. "Now spin it to the right several times."

"Which way is that?" she asked, and I knew we had a challenge.

"Toward your thumb," I improvised. She followed my direction. "Now turn it toward your pinky," I said, "and then back to your thumb. With a satisfying click, she pulled her lock open.

Later in the day she came back to me. "I can do my lock!" she reported breathlessly. "It's easy-- thumb, pinky, thumb!"

I gave her a thumbs up.

Despite such successes, there are always tears of frustration and panic on locker day, too, but the sixth grade teachers are well-prepared to help the kids through, mostly because we know something they do not: In a week? They will all be opening their locks as if they had done it all their lives. And in a month? They'll forget that there was ever time when they couldn't.

Wet Weekend

And on the first weekend of the school year:

The sun did not shine.
It was too wet to play.
So we sat in our house
both those windy wet days.

All we could do was to

Sit!
      Sit!
             Sit!
                     Sit!

And we did not like it.
Not one little bit.

Well, okay. I liked it a little bit, because I was so tired from the first week back.

But a Cat in the Hat would have been cool, too.

Howdy, Neighbor

After running into my former students on Monday, I saw them again at the grocery store later in the week. "Here you are again!" I said. "I guess it's amazing that we never bumped into each other last year, when you were actually in my class."

And then on Friday morning when I was heading home from walking Lucy, who should I see bounding up the steps in my complex just as I started down? I bet you can guess.

"Well!" scoffed the first twin, "This is just getting awkward!"