On the Road Again

I arrived in San Francisco today. While I don't really enjoy business travel, at least I feel some comfort in the familiarity of the place. Land of designer stuff, where few people wear sneakers. (This is only an observation, not a judgment.)

I stay with my friend Romy when I'm here. Her hospitality and company is really what makes the travel bearable. I tried a real hotel a couple times, but it was lonely. She and I visited the Berkeley Bowl (an old haunt) for some groceries this evening. Oh, the shelves of olive oil, cheese, yogurt, and produce. So many choices. The olive bar was singular.

At home, the kids are excited to go grocery shopping with Dad while I'm gone. The last time I left, "he bought us Devil Dogs and gum!" His explanation: "It's hard taking all three of them to the grocery store."

The instruction list I left with them:

• Water the lettuce in the greenhouse.
• Make sure the hens have food and water.
• Remember to take showers.
• Read.

My guess is that they'll check on the hens, but the lettuce, showers, and reading will all be packed into Friday night, before I come home on Saturday.

So tonight, Romy and I will drink tea and catch up on Mad Men. Then I get to retire under one of Helen Harness's (Romy's mom) beautiful quilts, which the cats will jump on every time I move my feet when I'm sleeping. Home sweet away from home.

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For the Love of Books

Mia came home from school today and EXCLAIMED "I checked out a book from our library today! We have the best library ever. I can't wait to use it. It's my favorite place in our school." (It was her first visit.)

How cool is that?

On my own nightstand, the kids and I recently started The Diamond of Darkhold, the fourth book in The City of Ember series, which we all LOVE. Highly recommend the prequels The City of Ember and The People of Sparks for middle-level readers.

I also have a Billy Collins poetry book that I pick up every now and then for some quick enlightenment.

Then there's good old Lee Iacocca's Where Have All the Leaders Gone? (recommended by my old mentor and friend Jim Lutzke). This is hoot of a book, really. Mr. Iacocca completely skewers W, everyone in his service, all his misplaced policies, and especially the war. Funny coming from a rich, white, former oil guy.

A few facts worth sharing: If we took all the trillions we've spent on that war and invested them into our own country, we could...

Hire 8 million teachers or 8 million police, fire, and EMT workers.
Give free health care to everyone for a year.
Provide 25 million college scholarships.
Give Americans free gas for a year.
Build 3 million affordable housing units.

Unbelievable.

I'm about halfway through, and the book basically advocates most things that I already believe in, so it's not a life-changing read for me. But it's entertaining, candid, mindboggling at times, and easy to read. Recommended.

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Nature Walk

It's another perfect fall day in Vermont today -- two in a row. So I thought I'd go outside today...

Last week, I taught a "Four Winds" nature unit to Max and his Kindergarten classmates. The subject was, in Max's words, how animals find their way. This is my fifth year of teaching these monthly classes, starting with Mia in Kindergarten. Since I'd worked my way up to third and fourth graders last year, I'd forgotten how darn cute those little ones are in Four Winds. They all want to tell lengthy stories -- usually completely unrelated to the subject. Before last week's lesson, I asked the class to tell me about some of their classroom rules: "Don't wiggle around too much." "Don't hit other people." These weren't actually the class rules, but they were good ones anyway.

Other than the curiosity in the kids themselves, the greatest thing about these classes is the stuff I've learned. Here are a few things I know now that I didn't two weeks ago:

• Digger wasps don't sting, but they find their way back to their ground holes using nearby landmarks.
• After their adventures out in the ocean, salmon find their way back to the stream in which they were born by the stream's smell.
• Some migrating birds use the low-pitched sounds of crashing waves to help follow coastlines.

Cool stuff to know.

So I'm going to rely on my own landmarks and sense of direction to head out and visit my garden and hens for a few minutes before I check in to work this morning. Hopefully, I'll find my way but lose track of time!

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