I participated in the Worldwide Moment this evening. At 7:09 Chris and I were out on the porch. Chris let me know the second the minute turned, and I began snapping pictures. I only managed to take 8 before it became 7:10. Here are my 2 favorites.
9/7: fairy tale craziness
In the wee hours of the morning I couldn't sleep, so (among other things) I read the first story in the complete Brothers Grimm, which is the story of the Princess and the Frog. And, wow, did it hold some surprises and delights for me.
So here's one delight: The tale begins, "In olden times when wishing still helped one...." Isn't that a great phrase--melancholy and nostalgic, but great?
And one surprise: The frog does not transform back into a prince because the princess kisses him but rather because she throws him against a wall!!
Though it's obviously not a good thing to be thrown against a wall, here's a hurrah for unexpected twists and turns in traditional tales!
9/6: alium
For the past few weeks Chris and I have been watching the alium bloom in the yard. It's been marvelous. At first the butterflies and wasps beset it; now the honey bees are taking their turn. We stood in front of a patch this afternoon, and watched dozens and dozens of bees buzzing on the white flowers.
9/5: a long weekend
Since Monday is Labor Day, classes were cancelled, making today the first day of a 3-day weekend. I'm especially grateful for it because I've been ill since Wednesday. Knowing that I have 3 days to recover is helping me to relax: I was able to devote today mostly to resting without having to worry about getting things done for Monday.
9/4: beginning to think
Next year I'm going to be teaching an Introduction to Gender Studies course for the first time. In my Classics courses ancient views of gender come up for discussion, but teaching a whole course on gender in the present day will be new for me. I'm both excited and scared. Today I started thinking concretely about how to set up the course, about how to frame the whole enterprise of studying gender from a perspective that doesn't take scientific pronouncements about sex and gender as definitively truthful. Chris is teaching the Introduction to Gender Studies course this year, and it was fun to talk with him about it over dinner today. We often talk about our work with one another, but this is the first time that our teaching will really overlap.
9/3: a favorite line
My advanced Latin class is reading Vergil's 4th Georgic, and today we reached a beautiful line in which Vergil describes some wool which the nymphs are carding as "dyed with the rich color of glass" (vellera...hyali saturo fucata colore). Most commentators explain that the glass in question must be sea-green since Vergil is talking about sea nymphs. Maybe. But I like to consider the possibility that Vergil is enjoying the paradox of something colored to be deeply transparent...!
9/2: a blue uke
We bought Chris' nephew a blue ukelele for his birthday, and I was kind of charmed by its color. It made me think of Wallace Stevens' "Man with a Blue Guitar." So we succumbed and bought one for ourselves, as well. Chris is tuning and strumming it right now. Sweet, sweet, sweet.
9/1: end-of-the-day clarity
Clearness in three ways as today works toward its end: a headache has lifted, a friend at work provided some extremely relevant and helpful comments about something that was bothering me, and the evening air of early autumn feels crisp and clean.
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