Sunday Walk And What Comes After...

Mid-term grading and then a couple of weeks of toxic wildfire smoke kept us from our weekly Sunday walk nearly a month... Today, tho', we went to our favorite diner on Piedmont Avenue for brunch for the first time in weeks and then walked to the Morcom Amphitheater of Roses to see if any blooms remain after a long month of fall weekends away. It was a miracle of fading but splendid flowers in the place, especially reds and yellows, and all the fountains spilling their songs... The gray fog burned away in the early afternoon light, the sky a blazing blue bowl stirring sweet autumnal breezes. There were children screaming cheerfully like sleigh-bells and playing tag among the paths this afternoon. Next week I've got a writing workshop on schedule, then symposia of student presentations of work on their final projects, then I'll be jurying submissions for next term in the Diego Rivera gallery -- none of this requires very much prep from me, but it's a bit of a roulette spin: unless the students are energetic and collegial and prepared these workshopping and peer-participation events can get pretty frustrating and grim, but when the students are even the least bit in the spirit of the thing it can be a string of stunning revelations leaving everybody feeling great about their work, the course, even the world. Fingers crossed!