Open for Business!

Remember, waaaaay back in the first post, when I introduced myself as the world's most cowardly writer?

I am now feeling a bit less like the Cowardly Lion and more like the Lioness Within. I certainly can't thank my blog, as this platform had nothing to do with it, but I have begun a formal writing/editing relationship with a public policy think tank (as is my practice in all things, it shall remain nameless, but I can tell you it has nothing to do with Republicans or llamas).

I deposited my first freelance paycheck yesterday, and while I won't be buying any luxury goods for now it certainly did feel good.

So consider my shingle hung, all two or three loyal readers! You know where to find me.

Seasonal Sweat

I am still alive. Nope, I didn’t mean to take a month-long sabbatical from the blog. And I certainly didn’t mean to be as frazzled as I’ve found myself over the last few weeks. But what is is. And here I am.

When I was a little girl, I would sit each fall in my air conditioner-free Texas classroom and, like Miss Clavel in one of my beloved picture books, think to myself, “Something is not right.”

In my textbooks (we still called them “readers” back then), the little girls headed back to school in sweaters. “Sweaters????,” I thought to myself, “And look! They’re picking apples right off of the trees. What magical world could this be?” And I’d dream of that place, the Land of Autumn, while I waited for dreaded sweaty recess, thankful that at least my desk was in front of a fan so that when we came in after our 20 minutes on the blacktop and the buggy playground I’d have a chance to cool down a little.

It is once again fall in Texas, four weeks into the public school year. The golden light I left behind in Oregon in August has found me. Early in the morning and, if I’m lucky, late at night I can feel a freshening in the air. Sort of. But the heat. The heat.

The schools are air conditioned now. Teachers keep the kids inside if the temperature is above or below certain points (I have mixed feelings about this, but that’s another blog). And, truth be told, recess is the only time a lot of kids spend outside these days. So neither they nor their parents were truly ready for the sauna-pa-looza that was opening day of fall soccer season this past Saturday.

So, if you are fortunate to dwell in the Land of Autumn, pull your sweater a little closer in my honor. Pick an apple. Rake some leaves. Bake a pie. And I’ll have one more sno-cone for you.