I’ve just returned from the library, where I picked up books for two upcoming events.
The first
was Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath, which is the next up in the library’s
monthly classic book club. When I learned of it, they were plowing through Middlemarch,
which I enjoyed way back when I was getting one degree or another, but laziness
held me back from re-reading it, so I decided to start with Steinbeck.
I’ve read Grapes
at least twice, possibly three times. Undergrad and grad degrees in English
will sometimes find you revisiting the same things. At least I’ve never taught
it, so it’s not too worn out. And coming from a family in which everyone
except me was born in Oklahoma, it has a certain resonance, although I dread the
reading a little because it’s so sad.
My second
book was a cookbook for my next assignment. The cookbook club also meets once a
month at the library, all of us fixing something from the same book and
bringing it in to try. This time it’s soups and stews, which will be a nice
change from a couple of the previous ones that had a bevy of weird or too-spicy
ingredients. I like unusual food, I just don’t want to comb the world looking
for the components.
A milestone sure to tug at my heartstrings – our twin grandgirls off to public school this week. After two years at a great pre-school they’re no strangers to the classroom, but seeing them getting on that big city bus, dwarfed by their backpacks, made me catch my breath.
I need to
check in with their parental units for a more thorough report on this week, but
the story from the first day was that at some point they were both thirsty. It
sounded as though their teacher was having a bad first day herself, so they
were afraid to ask, and their water bottles were in their packs, miles and
miles away across the classroom.
God, I’m glad to be old.
Hooray for reading. And rereading.
ReplyDeleteYou are right about the twins being dwarfed by their backpacks. I hope that they and their teacher have much better days after the trials of the first.
And school was cancelled the second day due to excessive heat, so everyone had to start all over again.
DeleteI cannot get over backpacks on tiny children. Shoulder to buttocks, and more. Oh, the skinny little legs, too. Hope they got the water sorted.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I wish they'd had backpacks when I was in high school (you know, when dinosaurs roamed the earth). I still remember the long walk home juggling my looseleaf notebook and umpteen books.
DeleteI hope they soon learn to raise their hand and ask for a drink. Here most schools have uniforms and the little new ones are so dwarfed by the dress and the backpack.
ReplyDeleteMany schools do in fact have uniforms here. I thought theirs did, too, but maybe not for the kindergarteners.
DeleteYou reminded me of my crying when I saw my son off to school on the bus the first day, long long ago. He didn't cry, but I sure did.
ReplyDeleteSomething about that big yellow bus and those little, little kids.
DeleteThey do look small for those big bags! It's a bittersweet moment, for sure.
ReplyDeleteAnd they're actually not small for their age. Their dad is 6'4".
DeleteFirst day of school - a milestone for everyone involved - an not always easy.
ReplyDeleteIt was even hairy when I was teaching high school. Give me mid-year when the kids have figured out what you're like and have settled down.
Delete