New Year...Same Old Shenanigans

If you thought this yearbook photo was awesome, allow me to submit this year's offering for your consideration:

I would report on our Fall trip to Arkansas this past weekend, or what it's like having a student teacher, or how basketball season has begun, or any number of the billions things happening in my life right now...but I'm kinda busy. Hope you had a laugh, though.

Proud and Angry

Several weeks ago, two sixth grade boys confronted Aydan after school. They asked if he liked what happened to his bike, and it just so happened that when Aydan left school that day he noticed the someone had cut slits into his bike seat and handlebars. As he told the story to me, I was very impressed and extremely proud. He said his friend Nick told him to hit them, or do the same thing to their bike, but Aydan said that would be "cruel" (his word). He went on to say it wasn't worth getting into trouble about something as little as a few cuts on a bike. I was amazed at how clear-headed and mature he was. It isn't as though he doesn't care for his bike; he has a nice bike and really enjoys it, going so far as to "trick it out" with colored grips, brake line and chain. So I'm very pleased with how he handled himself.

Today they struck again. This time they cut little nicks on his brake line, and snapped the zip ties that held the line to the frame of the bike. This time he chose not to go to the Keller Pointe (our local gym) after it happened, because he just didn't want to deal with those guys. Again...wow.

But as pleased as I am with my son, I am furious with these boys, a year older than him, that keep vandalizing his bike. The Jesus in me says I should try to understand, be kind and overlook such small offenses. But there is a part of me (the part of me that gets indignant and combative when people talk around me in the movie theater) that wants to find those kids and smack them silly. I knew new stages would come into our lives as the boys got older, but I couldn't have prepared for this. I hurt for my son, I'm angry for him, I want to fight for him, I'm scared for him . It's startling to find how much I love him, and what feelings well up inside...the thoughts of what I would do...thinking about if anyone were to hurt him.

Can a Southerner Ever Really Know?

If you've noticed, Autumn pretty much dominates my thoughts at this time of year. It is an intense longing that I never would have anticipated prior to moving to Texas. Although Fall was firmly established as my favorite season, I wouldn't have predicted the wanderlust produced by being away from it. Just like last year, I find myself wanting to get up and go somewhere...anywhere more Autumn than here.

While lamenting to my friend Josh the other day, he foolishly said to me, "You realize we DO have Fall here; it just comes later than your Fall." I tried to correct him as gently as I could. Could you yell at a blind man for not understanding the beauty of a vivid green? How can you explain Fall to someone who has never really experienced it?

Then Garrison Keillor helped me out this morning. He reminded me (as he often does, and that is why I hold to his broadcast like a lifeline when I am missing the Fall) that there are so many intangibles that make up Fall.

It's the geese flying south.
The chill in the air for Friday night football.
A brisk, foggy morning.
Fire in the treetops.
Beautiful ribbons piled on the ground.
Orchards of cider and pie, waiting to be made.

It makes me wonder how songs like Neil Young's "Harvest Moon," James Taylor's "Carolina in My Mind," and Van Morrison's "Moon Dance" must sound to a southerner. Or the poetry of Robert Frost? It must seem like a lot of sappy sentimentality. What is it like to read Ray Bradburry's "Something Wicked This Way Comes" or "Halloween Tree" if October for you in merely a milder version of September, and that still a summer month? It must seem an awkward celebration of things irrelevant.

But on this morning of 50 degree weather, I choose to relish in the sentiment, as I set in my breezeway, drinking coffee and soaking in as much Fall as I can.