So, here it is almost October. Where have I been for the past month? What have I been doing? Have I been in a coma or something? I dunno, maybe the terrorist attacks and subsequent haze just made September float by. In any case, I'm ready for October and autumn.
I went on on a weekend trip today. I drove up I-25 to Placitas, and took this nice little road up towards the crest of the Sandias. I didn't go nearly that far, though, just to the nearest picnic area. I parked the car there and took a trail north through the canyon. I brought my sketchpad and some pastels. I'm not very good, but I like to draw. It has become much more fun for me once I realized that I'm not any good, and decided that it doesn't really matter. Not caring overly much about the results makes the process more enjoyable, and possibly even makes the end result more recognizable. (Hey, sometimes you can even tell what I'm drawing.)
I walked back along the road. Someone had made a little swing from a couple of pieces of wood and some climbing rope. There was a pretty little stream next to the road. This, however was not the end of my excitement for the day…
I was driving down the freeway (going maybe 60mph?) when the hood flew up in front of me. Scared the crap out of me. I pulled over to the side and got off at the next exit. The hood to my poor broken car is being held down with bungee cords. I wrapped them around the bumber to increase the tension, and took an alternate route through Bernalillo and Isleta Pueblo. It was pretty, but I don't think I enjoyed it much because I was too worried about the hood flying up at me again. Yikes. I'm staying off of the freeway for a while.
School has been good- I really am having a good time with my students. I have been trying to lighten up and just have fun with them. We do goof off, but things have a tendency to get out of hand pretty fast. I try to save the goofiness for the afternoon.
We have been studying the colonies, and my students built a colonial town. They built houses, shops, a church, and a cornfield. Really. It turned out great. I need to get some pictures before they take their houses home. We did some colonial activities with the other 5th grade on Friday. They made sachets, hornbooks, books, and mobcaps (you know, like Little Miss Muffet?) and played some colonial games. I think that they had a good time. They boys all made mobcaps. They wore them to recess. I wore my giant sparly Elton John glasses. I got some pictures of them playing 4-Square with their hats on. Now the question is how to get ahold of them in 10 years and embarrass them…
