My pond-building has really slowed. As I’ve explained previously, the rock wall and waterfall have been difficult to construct. I’m not easily pleased with how they look, so I’m forever re-doing them. Now that school has started, I expect my progress to be even slower. In the meantime, the pond water has turned a dark olive green. Hello, algae.
Yesterday as I walked past the pond, it looked as if something had blown into the water. It was sprinkled with little black things. What were they? Dust? Seeds? They were MOSQUITO LARVAE! My pond has now become a giant mosquito breeding facility. Dang.
Fortunately, I had a mosquito dunk left over from previous years. It’s a little ring of inert material that has been impregnated with Bacillus thuringiensis v. israelensis, a bacteria that kills the mosquito larvae. It will take a couple of days to start working though, so in the meantime, my hobby will be scooping larvae out with my skimming net and leaving them to die on the sidewalk.
James, one of our teachers from last year, isn’t working with us any more. He took a call to be a pastor of two small churches in Baltimore. Yesterday was his installation.
It was a big crowd because there were people from two churches, plus people from school. It was HOT. I’m so glad my church is air conditioned. This place wasn’t. There were oscillating fans in every window sill. Plus there were some ancient fans in the pews. You know, those ones with scenes from the Bible on them? They were all ads for various funeral homes. I couldn’t decide if it was comforting or if it was morbid.
The service was simple and very nice. I stayed awake during the sermon, unlike yesterday morning during regular church, when I had a fit of narcolepsy and slept so hard I almost fell over. They didn’t do the “laying on of hands” part. I was a little disappointed because I like that.
Afterward, they took pictures:
I spent most of yesterday at school. Unfortunately, my room doesn’t really look like I worked for hours. I spent more time working on non-visible projects. And I spent a lot of time talking. hehe
After coming home, I slept like a dead man. An hour later, after some cereal, I worked on the pond some more. The water has gone cloudy with algae, so I really should hurry up and get the waterfall constructed and run the pump. I didn’t finish last night, even with help from Denis. It got dark at eight, so I came in.
Lately, when I work up a big thirst, I’ll mix some good ol’ Tang. I put it in a giant glass mug I got for my 37th birthday. It’s good with crushed ice. When I first got this current container of Tang powder, I mixed it according to the directions. Yikes! It was so strong! I thought it was going to kill me, but apparently it’s full of fruitrition, so it only made me stronger.
But just to be safe, I mix it a little weaker now.
Things are pretty intense in these last days before school. I went school supply shopping last night to blow off some steam. I needed more scissors because when we do a scissor activity in class I never have enough pairs. I also needed a new stapler because a squirrely eighth grade boy broke mine last year. I got a red one… hehe. I also got markers, pencils, and grading pens.
While I was walking around the store, I stopped in the briefcase aisle. I was intrigued by the tiny leather folders I saw in a small rack. Opening them up, I saw they were for holding various things like business cards, address books, and mini-calendars. But one of them mystified me entirely. All it contained was sticky note place markers. Huh? Would someone really buy that? For $10.49?!?
While cleaning up my classroom, I discovered a bag of Cheetos Puffs that Michele had brought to one of our end-of-year meetings in June. She knows I like them stale, so she suggested I take the leftovers and let them age. I put the open bag in my classroom with some books holding the bag closed so no mice or anything could get in. Then they sat for two months.
Upon rediscovering the bag, I sampled a puff. It was AWESOME! It was so chewy. So cheesy. I have tried to be disciplined and only eat a few of them each day because I wanted to enjoy their magical goodness over the course of several days. Alas, they have run out.
Good-bye, magical chewy cheesy Cheetos Cheese Puffs. You brought great joy to my life. I will not forget you.
