back 2 skool.5

getting dressed at the crack of dawn for back to school.

first day of school for me, moses & cecily.

next week, christian starts teaching and ingrid heads back to bryn mawr.  for the first time since pre-school, eva won't be going back to school this fall.  weird.  & good.  one kid done with college!

a couple of things about 2K12's first day back:

1) every tuesday i'll be in class for 420 minutes.  teaching for 160 of those minutes.  in poetry workshop & seminar for the rest.  i'm so grateful to have this opportunity, and so grateful for state schools that provide an education for so many students of such diverse backgrounds.  here's to even more diversity among college students in the future.

back to school duds.  big sister ambiguity.

2) moses and cecily are so adorable.  i'm grateful we live in a safe neighborhood with a great school, and that they can walk to school.  every child should have this.  i will continue to do everything in my power to make this happen some day.

3) lula made fresh peach ice cream today.  she's still waiting for her school to start next week.  the first days of walden always involve a walkabout--three days worth of backpacking in the mountains.  i'm so grateful for walden.  the teachers are amazing and dedicated and the students get so many enriching experiences.  yay progressive public education!

4) i'm really excited to be in poetry workshop again, and grateful to be able to work with a really interesting poet.  she is asking for a lot of new poems from us, which i love, and i was so excited when she talked about valuing aesthetic diversity amongst the poets of our program.  i'm totally down with that, and glad it's so fundamental for her.  also, so grateful that, against all odds, people continue to devote their lives to poetry.

back to school eve dinner.

5) our back to school dinner last night was:  roasted teriyaki salmon and mushrooms, green beans, corn, and my favorite koshihakari rice, with peaches & cream for dessert.  i'm so grateful for utah peaches and corn.

6)  i thought i was going to have to wear an old dress today, but ingrid and anna thrifted a snakeskin calvin klein sweater dress for me yesterday.  so even though i had to get up at 5.30 a.m. to get ready for school, i was grateful to have a fun dress to wear.

7) class ended early tonight, so i had time for a relaxing dinner with eva and d.j. at red iguana in salt lake.  i'm grateful for red vinyl mexican table cloths, pink doors with yellow walls, and chile verde.  & also grateful to have eva living so close to me after four years on the east coast.

late summer roses.

8) i'm grateful to aunt bonnie for taking care of my rose bushes.

9)  i returned to a clean kitchen, folded laundry, and fresh peach ice cream.  i'm grateful for ingrid, lula, and christian for keeping everything together, and more, at home in my absence.

pioneer peach: make the air with music ring

break out the bonnets!

a 24th of july festivity:

i have a bushel of peaches

&

2 dozen ears of corn ($3.50/doz.).

summer is real!

we broke out our bonnets

miss provo was eating pie, but i got this shot of her attendants.

& went to the pioneer day extravaganza at veteran's park.

re-enactor in the sons of utah pioneer village.

our friend anna from cambridge, ma., who's been living in slc for one month,

anna from cambridge sharing her views on pioneer day, freedom & the first amendment

was approached by a news anchorish woman:

"i noticed your cute dress.  will you answer some questions for me?"

anna was interviewed on camera.  what does pioneer day mean to her?  what does freedom mean to her?  what rights does the first amendment protect?

anna passed with flying colors.

jacob, world class hoop dancer.

we watched jacob do the hoop dance.  we've been watching him progress in his skills since he was about five.  he's now one of the top dancers in the world.

heritage coffins

i loved this heritage coffin-making booth,

and of course we had to have a navajo taco.

navajo tacos are traditional on pioneer day.

currently, a dozen ears of corn are shucked and waiting to be grilled eaten with the shallot thyme butter i made sunday, and a peach pie is cooling on the counter.  the watermelon is sliced and chilling in the fridge.

peach pie cooling for tonight's pioneer day barbeque.

i only wish julie was here to celebrate one of my favorite holidays of the year.

the beehive is the beloved state symbol.

here's our classic mormon pioneer song.  i get teary every time i sing it.

bonnets at my barbeque

Come, come, ye saints, no toil nor labor fear;
But with joy wend your way.
Though hard to you this journey may appear,
Grace shall be as your day.
Tis better far for us to strive
Our useless cares from us to drive;
Do this, and joy your hearts will swell -
All is well! All is well!

Why should we mourn or think our lot is hard?
'Tis not so; all is right.
Why should we think to earn a great reward
If we now shun the fight?
Gird up your loins; fresh courage take.
Our God will never us forsake;
And soon we'll have this tale to tell-
All is well! All is well!

We'll find the place which God for us prepared,
Far away, in the West,
Where none shall come to hurt or make afraid;
There the saints, will be blessed.
We'll make the air, with music ring,
Shout praises to our God and King;
Above the rest these words we'll tell -
All is well! All is well!

And should we die before our journey's through,
Happy day! All is well!
We then are free from toil and sorrow, too;
With the just we shall dwell!
But if our lives are spared again
To see the Saints their rest obtain,
Oh, how we'll make this chorus swell-
All is well! All is well!