Snowflakes keep fallin' on my head

Alright. To be perfectly honest, the snowflakes don't keep falling, and they certainly haven't fallen on my head, which has remained safely and warmly ensconced indoors all morning (still trying to reclaim my horizontal office surfaces).

The frosty white flakes (or "little white Italian fairies", if you prefer) have indubitably fallen, however, and they did fall on Paul's head as he biked home from campus earlier this afternoon.

On the plus side, it's finally frigid enough to consider baking on a regular basis. After I finish my cup of Postum, I think I'll kick off the chilly season with a loaf of Rosemary Raisin Bread.

Heh heh -- I kicked off the "chili season" last Friday, when Paul and I made 24 qts. of chili, three batches of corn bread, and three apple cobblers for the Friday Night Dinner at the Newman Center. Although we were prepared for the 30+ students we were told to anticipate, there were only 18 diners, including Fr. John, Paul, and myself. We scored the leftover vegetarian chili and a dish of cobbler, and the kids at the NC have enough meaty chili to last them through the winter.

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Masterful Manipulations: Short Story Homeschool Co-op Class

I taught a class on iconic short stories this spring at our homeschool co-op. I don't know how many of my former English teachers may have passed since, but any that have are rolling in their graves at this news. I find teaching especially stressful but this class exceeded my expectations in basically every way and that might have made it worthwhile. We read 20 short stories, which I was free to choose primarily on the basis of how much I liked them. I organized them based on loose associations. Table of Contents (We never officially read this, but it was so short, I included it in case I needed to read it aloud during that first class.) One Summer Night , by Ambrose Bierce Short Story Elements To Build a Fire , by Jack London Irony The Necklace , by Guy de Maupassant The Gift of the Magi , by O. Henry The Ransom of Red Chief , by O. Henry Irony - American The Veldt , by Ray Bradbury The Lottery , by Shirley Jackson Setting - Irony - Foreign The Sniper , by Liam O'Flah...

Another month passes me by

To quickly recap: We enjoyed a late-October weekend in St. Louis, accidentally arriving during the 8th inning of the Cardinals' World Series Winning Game. At the Ballpark Hilton. One block from the stadium. It was a night -- and very early morning -- to remember. We visited the zoo, Union Station, the Arch, the Botanical Gardens (to see the Chihuly exhibit), and I don't remember where else. Great city, good times. The furnace installation was completed on November 4th, and we've been toasty warm ever since. On November 15th, I hosted (with the immense help of three friends) 20 at the Ladies' Gourmet dinner. "Cranberries" were the theme ingredient. Everything was delicious. I was exhausted. The afternoon before leaving for St. Louis, I taped three half-hour shows for the Health Department, which I then had to scramble to assemble and deliver by November 17th. Of course, nothing ever goes smoothly over at the studio, so it took three times as long as planned ...

You know it's been a long, cold winter when...

... you dress your toddler in a short-sleeve shirt (with the intention of layering a sweatshirt over it) and he tugs persistently at the above-the-elbow sleeves as though the sleeves were simply rolled up. We explained that it was just a short-sleeve shirt, but Alex was distressed and asked for long sleeves. Paul had to take his flannel shirt off to show that he was wearing short-sleeves, too, and that Alex was going to wear another shirt on top, just like Dada. Alex had a serious case of The Daddies today, insisting that Paul come to the store with us and generally not wanting to be out of his sight for a moment. Originally, Alex asked for Paul to read him stories, but I hear footsteps on the stairs that would indicate he's changed his mind.

Indiana Idylls

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