Back to School Meeting

Last year, I decided that I wanted to hear some different announcements at the back-to-school faculty meeting.  Today, as I head to the annual school start-up meeting with the expectation that people will share news of weddings, anniversaries, and impending births, I proudly offer up some of the alternatives I will be longing hear as the meeting begins.

Yes, this is a Walter Mitty fantasy but here's what I'm hoping for……

"This summer, my girlfriend and I finally qualified for conjugal visits at the prison."

Perhaps, related to that announcement………..

"I got laid so often this summer that I'm still sore."

And how about this twist on the impending birth news?

"The DNA test revealed that I'm not the father."

Maybe folks want to share word of their summer vacation?

"I had a close encounter and now I do believe in Big Foot."

Or some long-term health concerns:

"After a few years of trying, I think that I finally have my herpes under control."

And, in the spirit of keeping things current, how about this?

"When the house burned down, we finally got rid of the bed bugs."

I'm hoping to soon make this announcement:

"I finally caught that damned possum in my garden and I'm hosting a bar-b-que on Friday night."

Chances are it won't shake out quite this way.  But a girl can dream.

Hurricane Update

Greetings from the other side of Hurricane Irene.  We survived the storm quite nicely, though the power went out about 30 minutes after my last live-blog update on Sunday morning and it remains out as of this writing.  Last night, we retreated up north to my friend T's house where we enjoyed electricity, laundry facilities, and a hot shower.  As soon as the power comes back on, I intend to pump out the basement, which is currently under 4 inches of water.  Once the appliances dry out, I'll see how much damage I sustained.

In the meantime, other than a lot of downed tree branches (and the afore-mentioned lack of power), things are fine at Sassafras House, if a little soggy.  I'll take it.

Full report (and photos!) after I get the electricity back.  In the meantime, I know there are people who had worse damage than I did and I'm feeling grateful for our blessings.  Add to that good friends and a sense of humor, and we're doing just fine.

Live Blogging the Hurricane

3:07 am
Woke up.....heard town siren, but not a call for tornado (though there are tornadoes south of here).  Basement was dry at 1:05 but is taking on water now.  Still have electricity.  Wind and rain is steady.


1:05 am
Gonna grab some shut eye for a bit.  Back up in the early dawn hours with updates....providing we still have electricity.  Go easy on us, Miss Irene. Please.

12:43 am
And it's official: The Weather Channel just jumped the shark, interviewing teenage girls at Asbury Park....talking about previous storms. So, yeah, that was informative.


12:22 am
Just had a rather blinkety moment with the lights. As wind gusts continue it seems likely that the electricity will take a holiday.  Though so far we're hanging in.


11:47 pm
The wind has picked up and the rain is still falling hard and heavy.  Boy asleep.  Pets nervous.  Grown ups hanging tough.


9:30 pm
For the record, the tornado watches are so not adding to the fun.


8:20 pm
Basement remains dry but now the rain is coming in a steady downpour.  There's wind but not of the gale force variety......yet, I assume.  Electricity is still with us.  So we're holding steady.


6:22 pm
Rain continues to fall steadily; windy. We've begun hourly basement checks. In the meantime, we're planning supper of chicken tacos and National Treasure. That doesn't suck.


4:44 pm
Steady, heavy rain has begun to fall.   But worse than that, we've had our first casualty of the hurricane: the toilet set is cracked. Strictly speaking, it may not be hurricane damage. But that's where blame is being assigned.

Unless Tiger and Lucy step up.

Damnit, Irene. Is nothing sacred?


3:15 pm
T won round II of Clue, so that game has been retired.

Just turned on the Weather (Panic) Channel. Where exactly do they find people to stand out on the pier during a hurricane?  Unsettling.

Very light rain here.  Wind picking up.

2:22 pm
A few bits of rain (though nothing substantial....yet). Some east wind has picked up, but still quite faint.  We've no choice but to eat lunch and play Clue.

Update: T won the first round.  

11:20 am
All of outdoors secured.  Cars backed into driveway between houses, as far away from trees as possible. Rain was short-lived.  Humidity seems to be approximately 110%.  Unexpected side-effect of Irene: mosquitoes in full-on swarm attack mode.  That rates below average.

10:38 am
A light rain has begun.  We're headed outside to put away the grill (it was used for burgers last night). 

The Hatches, They are Battened

So, yeah: Hurricane.

We've stocked up on supplies.

We've cleared off the back deck so that heavy things won't be thrown through the windows.

We've encouraged Old Man Tree to stay the course.

I'm not going to say bring it on because I'm not that sassy (shocking, no?).  But our emergency supplies are organized for in-house camping and we're as prepared as we can be.  For as long as I have electricity, I'll live-blog as the storm unfolds.

See y'all on the other side.

We're all Volunteers Now

I lived in Tennessee in the early 1990s and like any semi-conscious person in the state, began to watch some women's basketball.  The state was an epicenter for the sport; the one place in the nation where girls' games were held during prime gym time.  A state where women's games - at all levels - were played in gyms full of cheering fans.  There was one outstanding reason for that fact and her name is Pat Summitt, the longtime coach of the Lady Volunteers.

Women's basketball, and the girls who play it, flourished as a result of Summitt's enthusiastic support of the sport.  Her teams won championships but, more important than that, the players served as ambassadors for a world of gender equality in sport.  And beyond that, Summitt's players symbolized the value of hard-work, perseverance, and love of the game.  The Lady Volunteers earned academic honors and won games; they were role models for other accomplished young women.  They did their coach proud.

And Coach Summit was the center of it all: a woman respected, loved, and admired.  Though I left Tennessee in 1994, I still cheer for her teams.  My son proudly wears a Lady Vols t-shirt on game day.  His favorite athlete of all-time is a former Summitt player, Candace Parker.  That's fitting, and a development that Summitt, also the mother of one son, would surely approve of. 

It was with a heavy heart that I heard of Summitt's diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer's.  But, as this fine Washington Post article indicates, Summitt's determination to manage the unexpected development proves that she's got at least one more legacy to bequeath the young women she coaches and Volunteer fans everywhere: the dignity of a life well-lived.

Thank you, Coach Summitt.  I'll be cheering a little more loudly in the seasons that lie ahead.  We're all Volunteers now.

Oh, New Jersey

A few months ago, I noticed this sign, conveniently located near the train tracks that head south through my fair town.

New Jersey has a lot to answer for (what? have you ever driven a car in this state?) and it's not clear to me that the Garden State needed to add low-rent divorce to the list.  But I seem to be the only person around here worried about the state's karma.

Oh, New Jersey.

What Else?

At the Burpee Garden tour, we had the opportunity to see bunches and bunches of sunflowers, many of them new varietals that Burpee is developing for future sale.  These were some pretty awesome sunflowers, at least one the tallest sunflower I've ever seen.

Bunches of sunflowers in the Secret Garden were also poised to grow quite tall.

The leaves were gigantic.

All of the sample sunflowers were impressive to behold.

I know for sure that there will be some Burpee sunflowers in my garden next year.

Burpee Gardens

For as long as I can remember, the Burpee Garden seed catalog has come to my home.  It's an inheritance from my dad, who loves himself some Burpee seeds.  For two days each year, the Burpee folks open their Doylestown, Pennsylvania test gardens to the public.  Friday, my friend T and I made the trip to annual Fall Harvest days for some pretty awesome garden envy.

We got to see the Hope Garden, which featured prairie grasses and was a lovely place for a walk.

And we had a look at one of the test gardens (Burpee calls it the Secret Garden, which I found charming).

The meadow behind the original Burpee house is a sight to behold.

Though the Burpee Company is devoted to seeds as well as perennial flower plants, their Doylestown, Pennsylvania garden has also been a place where they cultivate trees.

I have a garden each year and I put Burpee seeds in the ground for many of my plants.   I've had a bit of a challenging garden season (talking to you, possum-in-my-yard), so I walked through the Burpee paths, I had some pretty serious garden envy.  For example, I love these lush tomato plants.

Those peppers look pretty delicious.

The Burpee squash looks tasty.

My water-conscious dad would approve of this method of drip irrigation, in use at the Burpee raised beds.

Next year, I will try some bean poles like these (there were also some bamboo options, which I forgot to make a picture of).

I wish my zinnias had been this impressive.

I got plenty of ideas for next year's garden, a reminder that gardening is about patience and reward, and had a very nice day.

That's happy.  What else?

Composition Book

Each August, I acquire a new composition book to start the school year.  I use it for notes, ideas, and the endless lists I like to make.  I like a decorated one and usually I buy one from Etsy.  But this year, I decorated my own.

I'm pleased with how it turned out.  If only the rest of the school year could be this easy!

Keeper

Today, a friend of mine referred to something as like "a picture of a leprechaun riding a unicorn."  I don't know about y'all, but that phrase is going to make me laugh for quite some time.

Carry on.