changing leaves

artful leaf arrangement by one of my students

What's New?
Autumn is the season when the Earth slows down, bundles up, and gets ready for a long winter nap. Autumn is also the beginning of school. As a teacher, that means autumn is the time when my work ramps up into high gear and I find myself whizzing through September so fast that I barely realize it's gone until the second week of October. I find this dichotomy fascinating, yet also a bit sad. While my spirit wants to spend lazy evenings tucked in bed under a warm blanket with a good book, my brain tells me I need to work at a frenzied pace.

carrots from my garden

I know this is mainly due to the added stress and work involved in changing schools and districts, but I feel especially sad about this autumn. I missed the fair this year. I fear I missed apple picking as well. If I'm not careful, I'll miss the pumpkin patch. I haven't put up any of my autumn decorations. I'm not Martha Stewart, by far, but I do have a few seasonal decorations that make me happy.

the trees near my home

I do have some bright spots ahead, though, and I try to focus on those. Joe has asked me to knit him some fingerless gloves (something I've been wanting to do for some time now), and we bought yarn for them on his birthday. I'm joining a friend later this month for a Meetup knitting group at a neighborhood coffee shop. And last, but not least, riding the bus (along with walking to and from bus stops) has afforded me much time to gaze and wonder at the beautiful changing leaves.

my 6th graders collecting depth data

I took my 6th graders to the creek across the street to gather data for their first field study. It was a bit exhausting marching them over and back again (and then doing it again for the other two 6th grade classes), but I think we all had fun.

Currently Reading

• The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan - I finished this book this week, and I enjoyed it so much that I've put the 3rd book in the trilogy on my library queue. 
• The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater - book #2 in the Raven Boys series.

On the Needles
I've picked up my striped Idlewood sweater after many months of neglect. The only thing it needs is sleeves (and one of them was almost finished already), so really there's no excuse not to finish it. After it is done I'll start up again on my Leaflet sweater (which is also almost finished) so that I can start Joe's gloves.

Looking Forward To

1. a beautiful week coming up