First Rain

The local news stories tell of farmers rushing to get their grapes harvested. One man brought several tons of grapes to the wine making supply store and sold a ton of zinfandel for fifty cents a pound- very cheap. Donna was finalizing the last of her Fall planting late last night. I caught Truckee last night as I was arriving home and he was leaving to see his girlfriend in Gilroy, at least a three hour drive. The day before he sealed the room of the trailer and investigated possible tarps and tents that would protect it in the rains. Joey was taking his Folengong class. So I ate alone on this cloudy chilly evening a spicy cornbread casserole.

Sure enough a pounding windy rain began in the middle of the night. For this drought stricken state it is good news so early in the season- but also difficult to know if it will continue. I drove for the second time this year and gathered extra bags- one from my union anticipating at least an attempt at organzing my papers. My class sits here now- semi-quiet writing in the journal. The question of the day" "Describe your feelings about the rain. Do you have a story about getting stuck in the rain? Or a story about getting totally soaked? Or just playing in the rain?

Now I am in my sixth period class. "Can I run to the bathroom really quick?" "My locker won't open. I need Max to help me open it." As the drip, drip, drip of the out drain drips on my airconditioner. I just gave Brendan a dirty look because he was in the wrong seat and he moved.

Now to curriculum: Finish your worksheet: How is your life like Ender's life in terms of Adult support for life skills, spiritual support, socialization, and dreams that you pursue. In my fourth period Michael gave all adults a five out of five score. In Ender's game adults are brutal and children are brutal with each other and brutal upon themselves. Now their task is to present 32 different possible topics to write about in Ender's game. They collect the evidence from quotes in the book and I hope that they will a cogent class presentation in a couple of days. If all goes well I will have 64 essays on 32 different topics.

I look forward to October 24th when my compadres in English help me grade them. Today I will meet with the superintendent for our monthly informal. Then I go to my second Italian class at Viva.