is there anything better

than padding around in flannel pjs in a 2300 square foot apartment while listening to rerun witty banter between leslie feist and stephen colbert?

i am in my final week of teaching in my first tenure track job. i hope it won't be my last. (and i mean that it to be an unclear antecedent).

i am trying very very hard to will myself to be happy here. on saturday morning, i attended the kiwanis pancake breakfast with kevin, helen and rita. it was so middle america i couldn't barely stand it. one of my favorite little friends, anderson, was working an eight hour shift with his scout troop. anderson took off his scout shirt and slipped into the crowd of pancake eaters when he tired of his service. i love that kid. i am lucky that i have fallen in with a gaggle of very kind and generous families who have some great, funny kids.

last night, i went along to see the final presentations of the students of the a special "think tank" in american studies. they have spent the past two years acting locally in three locales: with white farmers on local seasonal foods in rural butler county, with latino residents on a language and cultural exchange program in hamilton and fairfield, and with black residents on public space issues in a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood in cincinnati. the students were impressive. the works that my colleagues have done over the past few years in planning and leading these classes is impressive. their work is laudable not only for its academic rigor, but for the ways in which they helped to cultivate compassion, smarts, enthusiasm, curiosity, and wonder in the lives of our students and the local communities. as i hung out last night with those folks in the marcum center, i remembered why i sought and accepted this job.


p.s. my corn puppets are turning out very well. paula asked me to join her at the opening of the market on saturday. i cannot decide whether i should bring the puppets or save them for the harvest party i am planning for the closing of the market in october.