Glowing poofs

These are lovely purply, and their white tips catch the light so potently.

Egad, Brain!

Narf! I have been away too long. It was the sort of week during which I came home from school and fell asleep on the couch, getting up only to go to bed. It was a spectacularly unproductive week, and again, I am happy to have put it behind me.

Because I have spent much of week being overwhelmed by the negative, I shall undertake to list here all of the positive things, the blessings, the gifts of the week:

Went to dinner last night with a couple who have the potential to be very good friends. They are involved with a church that we no longer attend, but we still see them in the line of things church-y, occasionally. Conversation lasted until well after dinner.

It rained and thundered and lightninged! I was giddy; it felt like back east again. [This is a qualified blessing, because many SoCal residents endured hardships as a result of this freak storm -- mudslides in burn areas, evacuations, snow, hail, twin tornadoes, overturned big rigs and freight cars.]

Netflix.

The 4400 series DVDs.

Dynamic skies; patchy sun, dark nimbus clouds, billowing white cumulus clouds, wind, green.

Brownies. Twice.

LittleKitty cuddled with me under the covers this morning as I lay in bed reading. She hasn't made a habit of that in quite a while.

Madeleine L'Engle's newly published novel, written in the 1940's. It was very sweetly her. It felt like coming back to a comfortable place of good memories.

Our campus held a Memorial Day ceremony yesterday, and the kids were better than I've ever seen them -- quiet, respectful, cooperative, and in some cases, truly moved.

A former student who is in the Navy returned to campus for a visit this week. He was one of those students who earned a low C or D in my sophomore English class, but who could have had an A given his outstanding intelligence and insight. He's one of the students we all know has incredible potential but...we all knew it might take time to be realized. After three years in the Navy, working on jet engines, being patient, watching the demise of his youthful marriage, he is entering Annapolis in a few short months. He's a special kid, and it was good to be visited by him and thanked by him.

A number of current students have stopped by my classroom this week after school, God bless 'em, utterly preventing me from getting any grading or other necessary jobs done...but who obviously needed to talk and who seemed to feel better after they left my room.

My AP students actually had some decent discussions this week of Ellison's Invisible Man. They are learning and growing after all. I've had my doubts this year.

Sunday's graduation party of a friend was tons of fun.

We have dinner planned tomorrow with another friend.

We have Monday off school.

That'll do for now. I'll add to the list as I recall more of the week's blessings.

Purple carpet
Nature's litter
Click to make big and see what I mean by "purple incandescence." I only wish my camera could fully capture what my eye sees.
Ditto on this one.

The rain is beginning.
Windshield rivulets
A recently vacated parking spot
This is what happens in SoCal when it rains.
Today, with patchy clouds, sun, blue, breeze.
Dynamic skies

Getting closer

Yes, I was at school today, working on grades. Actually, I was working on referrals for plagiarism. I'll wait till after the AP exam to deal with it, but I needed to get out from under this. I was further encouraged to be done with this since our seniors have recently had a bout with plagiarism, and I'm going to act quickly and forcefully on mine so they don't have this problem again next year. Frustrating and disappointing. Next week, we'll have a plagiarism prevention lesson so they all recall what they've been taught every single year since seventh grade. (Sigh.)

The jacaranda is even more beautiful than yesterday. The contrast with the bottle-brush tree was nice in the afternoon sun.

More yard details

Can't decide which of the two flower shots I prefer.

Look at this precious muzzle! Isn't it adorable? I love kissing his old man schnozz.

It's Rose Day

Brain dead today at school. Overcast skies caused dullness, and shifting barometer caused headache. On the run today after school, but took five minutes in the old backyard with the OldManDog. Managed to snap a few of the various rose manifestations -- sad, dreadfully neglected rose manifestations, that is. They still manage to be beautiful without my help.

Beautiful monster

Vascular system

Munched, yet beautiful at its core

Hope springs...

I went out to look at the jacaranda and saw this.


And the jacaranda has begun...but it has only just begun.


Parts of the southland are already aflame in purple. My own corner of the pit won't be fully alight for another week, likely. I'm ok with that. It just means my hope lasts longer. :-)

Flowerday

It is spring. It was sunny. It was breezy. I was a homebody. I slept in. I finished a book. (Pat Conroy is a god.) I played with clay. The flowers were radiant. I couldn't help myself. They called to me. I took their pictures. I take too many flower pictures. But I didn't care today. Did I mention they called to me? The flowers made me do it.

Question: Why does spring bring so very many spider webs? All of our bushes (and some of the corners in our house -- ahem) look like this:

'Round the House

Depth, not breadth. It's the same approach I prefer to take my teaching. Do fewer things, and do them deeply and well. Really saturate, delve, get to know something thoroughly.

I've been having fun this year taking pictures around the house. I am reminded of how many things change on an hourly, daily, weekly, monthly basis, and how many different angles and perspectives one can use to look at the same thing and re-see it. Nothing is ever really exactly the same.

Of course, some of you, at this very moment, are thinking, The hell they're not the same! If I have see another picture of her damned dog...! Well, sorry to disappoint, but the wildflowers are still beautiful and the dog is still precious, and these are my two offerings for the day (and a make-up for yesterday).

A relaxed day

We took a mellow approach to the day. Slept in, ate breakfast at the cottage, took short walks with OldManDog; decided to try to get some work (grading, planning) out of the way; went up to Ft. Bragg for provisions, had a leisurely dinner of pizza and vino; watched some DVDs and ogled the real estate catalogs. Nothing major, and that's just what the doctor ordered for the day.

Had sun only parts of the day. The cottage saw rain, but it was while we were grocery and pizza shopping. Supposed to receive more rain tomorrow. Also supposed to receive a massage tomorrow -- thank you, lord. If all goes as planned (and these are loose plans indeed), the Mendocino Art Center, some heckuvit shopping, and picnic at the botanical gardens are in our future.

Here are some of the colors of Mendo in March:

Profusion!

It is a ridiculously beautiful day in SoCal today! It is 86 degrees with a cooling breeze. The flowers and the trees and the animals are all happy. I am happy.

After a safari around the yards, both front and back, I sit upstairs with the window open listening to the sounds. The breeze rustles the ash trees' leaves. The bike horn of the Mexican rolling cart of snacks grows louder and then softer in the distance. LittleKitty's insistent meow as she asks for love rises from below, as does the sound of the garage door springs as POM opens it to work on her pots for her primitive pottery class.

Today isn't supposed to be a day of joy. Holy Saturday is a day of watching and waiting, of pensiveness. And yet I can't ignore the profusion of ridiculous beauty. It elevates my mood because I already know what's going to happen tomorrow.

Enjoy the profusion of photos and beauty.