Tonight was the end of an era, of sorts. My food processor finally gave out. D. bestowed it upon me ten years ago, during our courtship phase. There had already been perfume. There had already been flowers. There had even already been a bookcase. So I was not at all crestfallen that a kitchen appliance was thrust into my hands one morning for no other reason than that I had made him laugh—about what, no one can recall.
Anyway, my humble little Black and Decker served me well. Now I have good reason and real need to hunt for a new food processor.
I wish this lump in my throat would go away. No, it’s not from mourning the food processor or reflecting on the passage time. The lump developed this evening during Kipp’s bedtime story. We dove into chapter two of By the Shores of Silver Lake. I had never read this volume before and was taken completely unawares by the death of Laura’s faithful dog Jack. It made me fully aware of the gray hairs on Seneca’s muzzle. I think one border collie is going to have a lovely frolicsome autumn this year.
I picked up By the Shores of Silver Lake this evening a bit rebelliously. School has started once again and Kipp keeps coming home with these books he’s supposed to read to me or I’m supposed to read to him—insipid books about bears, each with a “points value” assigned to it. Thunder and Damnation! We don’t read in this house to earn points! I’m not sure what the philosophy behind this points deal is, but please, someone explain to me how the hell points can be more rewarding than a well-told story in and of itself.
I clearly must talk to the teacher (who, if you recall, was my former fourth-grade teacher) because if she has some genuine didactic purpose behind the choice of these books she is sending home, I need to know. On the other hand, if it is just some rah-rah effort to get kids and parents to read more, I need to make it clear to her we have our own agenda and that the agenda does not include points. I'm sure she means well and I'll end up being enlightened.
What a curmudgeon I can be in the meantime!
9:39:31 PM 
|
