Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Ice, baby

We're having a cold and dry fall up here. The cold has brought out the bright colors in the trees, and every day I can see from my classroom window and on my ride to and from work bright yellows and reds contrasting with the dark green evergreens. Why is the sky so much bluer in the fall? Is it the angle of the sun? Or is it that, combined with how bright the fall colors are against the sky? Whatever it is, it is beautiful, though everybody up here is telling me that it is so unusual to be having this dry a fall.

The temperatures outside at night have gone down to the 20's the past couple of nights. This morning was the first time that my face actually *hurt* from the cold. There was ice on the bike path and in the creek, and frost covering everything and making the world white and sparkly. The sun was out, too, due partially to the time change and partially to the fact that there was no ground fog this morning. We get these ground-hugging tule fogs here, which are neat because of the way they absorb sound. Everything is muffled visually and audially on those mornings.

The rear brake on my bike froze on the way to work this morning. I know it was working when I set out from home, but there's a long stretch where I'm on the bike path and don't need brakes usually. When I got to the first surface level street I tried to stop for a car and found out I only had a front brake. Almost fell off the bike.

I haven't heard from some of my friends down south in a while, so LINDA, where are you? And VOLTAIRE has disappeared into the Phillipines and has not blogged in a while. HELLO??? Is there anyone out there???

Monday, October 23, 2006

Loose Ladies

Here is the Puzzle Pirates portrait of Marmy, Wimby, and Toothi (me).

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Youth and resiliency

I was sitting at my desk, reading the SF Chronicle online and feeling depressed about this article, and this one, and this one...My office is right next to the second story to the gym, and suddenly I heard Michael Jackson's Thriller coming from there, very loudly. I went in and stood on the 2nd story track, and watch a group of about 20 students, some of them mine, dancing a choreographed and barely learned cute dance together, to that song.

They were adorable. It was wonderful.