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

Sunday...

...was a ridiculously gorgeous day! And while I took photos yesterday, I never managed a post. Busy was I with writing essays of my own, and avidly avoiding grading those I had assigned others. But these ones have been marinating for a while, and it was time.

I wish I'd had all day to shoot. While we did not receive the rain we were supposed to have on Saturday, the mountains got the precipitation, and yesterday saw some incredible cloud-and-snowscapes on the not-too-distant hills. The light was brilliant, the clouds were dramatic, and while the breeze was cool, the sun warmed us.

At about 3:45 p.m., I felt the deep need to nap. I slept for two hours, and as I did, I became conscious of thunder rumbling. When POM woke me to eat, she noted that it had rained just a bit with some lightning and thunder. So cool! We almost never get real thunderstorms. This was only a tiny one, but it made for a lovely nap.

Here are a couple of make-up photos to demonstrate the beauty of the day.

Pre-rain cloudage

Glowing old-man dog on sunny lawn

POM was especially creative this weekend; I think she threw all three days (Fri.-Sun.).