Saturday, October 04, 2003

You're Soaking In It

Rain. The dog comes back from walks wet, leaving pawprints as we ascend the stairs towards home. Water drums against our steep-angled attic ceilings and walls; the wind it brings bends the trees sideways and back again. My long thick hair gathers moisture and weighs upon my neck, giving me a headache.

Family Days came early this term, a full week before midterms. Hundreds of adults descended on the campus to attend classes, watch their kids play sports in the drizzle, and meet with Deans, teachers, and advisees. As always, seeing the parents with their offspring was the best spectator sport on campus, with each family set a spotlight of understanding, a lifting of the veil, bringing context to nuances and habits, behaviors and trends, illuminating each student: suddenly these kids make sense.

By this morning, the parents had all come and left with their children. Now they're gone for days and days; I had a pre-college-recommendation breakfast interview with a day student advisee this morning, but that's hardly work and took place of campus; in reality, work ended yesterday at 4:00 with the end of my last advisee parent meetings (yes, managing a sport is a good idea for colleges; sure, we can figure out how to prepare better for tests in Religion in the second half of the term; try this apple, it was grown on our own school farm and harvested by your very own kid); now we're off until Wednesday.

But Family Days hit home, too -- time for us is time for the ones we love after a long drought of work and busy-ness. Dinner last night in Greenfield and a nice autumn walkabout in town with Darcie, our first real date in far too long, while Virginia babysat; a casual stopover this morning at Darcie's parent's house, where Connecticut-ites Alicia (Darcie's other sister) and her fiancee Matt were visiting for the day and Virginia stopped by to say hello on her way to Mocha Joes for a closing shift; more Matt and Alicia tonight on their way home again. And time for the three of us -- brunch tomorrow morning, maybe a movie early next week, and a plethora of hours just being together, home and playful. Time I shouldn't be spending blogging, so enjoy the rain while it lasts, folks.

posted by boyhowdy | 6:40 PM |

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