Creature Weekend

R. and I visited my mom's house in the Berkshires this past weekend and saw lots of creatures--some were where they belonged in nature and some gave me quite the surprise. Somehow, I was the one who kept finding them!

Snakey coming out from behind the fridge!

I first saw him on the rug when I went to get something from the fridge. Then, he got scared away when people tried to grab him. Finally, he reappeared.

Snakey right before R. swept him out of the house.

The frogs that make the really big plop! into the creek.

Frog on the porch in the rain

Dead Meecie

The real reason we were there.

Procrastination

My last post sounds so productive, like I'm hard at work preparing for school to begin. Hah! My books were out on the table all day and I think I thought about opening them all of once. Instead, I read, ate popcorn, etc. I didn't even do any Latin or any Great Books reading. I justify it to myself by saying that I really worked hard at cleaning today, which I did, but it took longer than it needed to since I kept interrupting myself to read for a few minutes. I know it's a bad sign when it's 8 pm and I still need to sweep up the floors. I guess I'm just giving myself more work to do later. Oh well.

Stuart Little

Ok, this is just a random note since I'm working on Stuart Little for my reading groups for the fall. I always liked the story as a kid, partly because it's fun to read things about small creatures trying to live like we do, using our things in strange ways. But I'd forgotten the part about how Stuart tries to have a date with this small girl. It kind of creeps me out. Maybe it's Garth Williams' illustration of the mouse swimming to show off for her. Or the picture where he's waiting for her to arrive, seated jauntily with his hands behind his head. A mouse acting like a guy--it doesn't quite work and it feels weird in a children's book. It also has a very ambivalent ending. What about returning to his family? Will he ever find the bird? I wonder how my students will react. Also, I wonder how many have seen the movie which definitely changes a lot of things.

Hot

These past few days I've felt like a chicken roasting in the oven. The school where I'm working has lousy airconditioning so that doesn't make things any better. The students are whiny because of the heat and I've gotten to the point where I just turn out the light in the room to try and make it cooler. Although I'm not sure how much that helps.

I'm usually not big on airconditioning but it's my new best friend. Even though it makes me sleep like a rock and makes getting up rather difficult.