Month: March 2023

Spring arrived like gangbusters, didn’t it? I seemed as if we were suspended in winter two days ago: I was wearing a warm turtleneck sweater and wool socks, went for a nightly dip in the hot tub, and burrowed under my comforter at bedtime.

Then, bam! Blossoms are floating on a sunny, warm gust of air, green shoots are pushing past the dead ones, and the pond has come alive again. The koi and minnows have risen from the depths of the pond and have sped up their rounds. Robins, cardinals, and starlings have returned to the watering hole. And the tadpoles! We will have frogs soon, and I really hope they’re spring peepers!

I am so proud of our sixth graders. On the field trip to the National Mall, we led a group of them them on a six-mile walking adventure. After the buses dropped us off in front of the Natural History Museum, we met up with our parent chaperones and walked over to the Tidal Basin.

We did the full loop as we snapped pictures, posed with Eleanor Roosevelt, draped across George Mason, side-stepped blossom-admiring tourists, and learned a little history.

We had all the time in the world…until we didn’t. Time had melted away and left us with 20 minutes to walk all the way to the American Indian Museum to board the bus back to school. We speed-walked those little ducklings back around to the National Monument, all the way down the Mall, and around the corner to trusty bus 8 (labeled by yours truly with a sharpie and half a manila folder), boarding the bus just three minutes behind schedule.

Nobody got lost, dehydrated or injured. Nobody needed the meds I had packed in the drawstring bag hanging from my shoulder. Nobody was rude to a tourist or got glared at by passersby. While in the middle of it, my stress level was elevated, but in hindsight, it was a true joy. Three cheers for the sixth graders, the best of them all.

I started knitting again a few months ago, encouraged by a few friends who wanted to learn. A knitting friend, much more experienced than I, invited us over to give a tutorial. I was there as her assistant.

After a trip to Fiberspace in Old Town, Alexandria, I was hooked (no pun intended or made- knitting uses needles, not hooks). They have the most beautiful yarns. I was determined to make Maxine something, but what would my 15-year-old agree to wear? I stumbled upon some cute fingerless mittens on display. I snapped some pics and texted her, “I really want to knit you something.Would you wear these?”

“Sure,” she texted back. After sending an array of color choices, she settled on subtle green and brown variegated skeins.

I finally finished them a few days ago and sewed in the loose ends this evening. They’re called mismits, and it’s a bit late for really cold weather, but I think she’ll get a couple wears out of them before tucking them away until next fall.

We went over to some friends’ house last night for paella. The husband honed his skills while living in Spain the past three years, watching closely and learning from the locals. He purchased two pans to entertain the folks back here in the neighborhood and had both giant pans going when we arrived (and I mean giant- probably about 20″ in diameter). Aromas of shrimp, chicken, chorizo, and saffron billowed out into the chilly night air to mix with the wood smoke from the firepit.

He and his wife had purchased a bunch of to-go containers to send home leftovers with the small crowd of villagers, thinking there was no way we would get through two full pans of paella. The adults got firsts, seconds, and even thirds, and the pans remained somewhat full. The youngsters, ranging in age from 12 to 19 (several college freshman were home on spring break), originally hung back, busy chatting, jumping on a trampoline, and playing video games. Well, they crushed it. By the time they had their way with the pans, a few lonely grains of rice lay on the edges of the pans.

No to-go containers made it out of the sleeve last night.

What’s it like to be Ricky? Seems to me he spends his time sleeping, chasing his sister, watching birds from the windowsill of his choice, and crying for his supper.

Maybe he does very important work while we’re all away at work and school during the day. Is he brokering peace between nations? Rooting out evil bots online? Trying to help developing nations build a cold chain? Maybe. Than again, maybe not.

I feel like I have been trapped under a weight lately. Everything seems to have converged at once. Work-wise, it was the end of a unit with projects and tests to grade, and the beginning of a new one with revisions to be made to meet this year’s students’ needs. On the home front, it has been college application deadlines, helping my parents with medical issues, and an arthritic dog who needs more care.

As I was walking out of work yesterday, a sentiment came to mind that describes so accurately how I’ve been feeling lately: “like butter scraped over too much bread.” That’s Bilbo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings. Though I don’t feel the need to sail away in an ethereal ship bound for the afterlife, a break would be nice. Four more weeks until spring break!