Five Highlights

Perhaps because today is so busy, I am feeling a bit directionless in my writing this morning. I have only one dog to walk (sweet Ollie), but then I have a 2 hour stint at school to photograph the 8th graders and continue to gather details for my December newsletter about the 8th grade curriculum. I have ideas for the article, but there's a lot to pull together, so I feel the need to "observe" both with my eyes and ears, to see if some thread pulls at me a bit more than my original idea.

Oh, and the celebration dinner I've been invited to...there is that this evening. Lots to think about, none of it with any direction.

I am, in other words, in a linguistic limbo. When that happens, I revert to highlights.

1. Yesterday was a day of visits and phone calls. Nini stopped by and Jessica with Quillette. Nini brought me photographs, Jessica brought us jam and black bean brownies (yes, brownies made from black beans -- they are actually quite good!) Our neighbor, Sequoya, dropped off some homemade (and made in Mexico! by her mother-in-law) balls of Mexican chocolate (my favorite!) and then Colleen came by with Monty and we all went for a relatively dry walk through the neighborhood -- 4 dogs and 4 women.

2. The neighborhood has been hit by a string of robberies. Our neighborhood online chat is abuzz with ideas, worries, and rants. The latest idea is to reinstitute neighborhood walks throughout the evening. While last night's impromptu walk wasn't planned (hence, the choice of impromptu), we waved at the police officers (two different patrol cars) that passed as we meandered through the park and along the streets.

3. We went to REI yesterday to pick up our newly waxed skis, order a new car rack for our bikes and skis, order a new bicycle trainer (mine died), buy a pair of rainboots (each of us), and I got what I've been hoping for -- a new cast iron 12" skillet. (My mother is admonishing me from afar -- "Put this on your birthday list!" but I needed the skillet to make the dinner rolls for our Thanksgiving dinner, well before my birthday!)

4. I have finished my responsibilities for the Annual Report at school. This was part of my freelance writing contract and it was relatively painless. I thought it would be much harder, but turned out the hard part was editing the Head of School's piece and not writing the community profiles. After reading the HOS's writing, I am shocked she was admitted to Harvard. I suppose she's a scientist, but still, sentence structure seems as important in science as it is in all other areas of life. No matter. I made her sound brilliant and thoughtful and articulate, which in fact she is, she's just unable to reflect that in her writing.

5. Oh, perhaps the best moment is connecting with Dr. Dick -- who is, among other things, a neighbor who I see on my walks with Rubin. Richard, his real name, walks his very rambunctious German short-hair pointer, Ginger who, despite her 9 years of age, is full of unbounding energy. In our casual converations, Richard and I have talked about our lives. He is a therapist focusing on death and dying issues as well as sex therapy. He is known as Dr. Dick. We don't talk much about that, but recently he, too, has joined the dog walking business (Out Your Dog) and we DO talk about that. In fact, we are going to join forces, in a sense, to maximize our earning potential. He's a sweet man about my age and Rubin LOVES his dog Ginger so it seems like an odd, but perfect match.

Okay, that's about it. I need to get a move on as the day is packed full of adventure and adolescents!

And it's currently NOT raining. Yahoo!