Falling Up

The foliage is dropping over in the shop. Better grab 'em before the street sweepers do.

***

I've closed the poll - Abner was an early leader and constant front runner. He'll be inaugurated as the first print in early October. Thank you for all your commentary and contributions. I'll be letting the magic random number generator pick a couple of names tomorrow and announcing the winners of the prints!

I'd do it tonight, but I'm way too sleepy.

***

I do have to share a quick story, though. The boys finished their book work early today, so we ate lunch and headed over to the park to practice their mad soccer skilz before the rains started. After they got nice and sweaty, we walked to the library so I could bother ask the librarian about a book I had when I was a kid that I can't remember the name of and could she please find it anyway.

So - she's typing away on her mystical library computer device, when a lady on one of those wheelchair/scooter mobile things came zipping up to us and parked about 3 inches from our toes, effectively pinning us against the library circulation desk.

I turned and smiled at her because I'm a nice southern girl and that's what we do. We can't help it. She could have rolled over all six of our feet and I would have turned and smiled. It's in my DNA.

Anyway. She pulls up, I smile, she pins me with a piercing glare and says, "Are you all skipping school?" Not in a nice, kind of wry, cute happy way. But all serious - like she's with the truancy office. "No, Ma'am." I reply in my sweet southern way. I turned back to the librarian to offer up a pitiful clue at the book I'm looking for.

"Didn't school start already?" she says, behind my back. I turn again. "Yes, Ma'am. We're having school right now. We homeschool." I flash my big grin that says, "Everything's fine here...move along..."

"I thought school started already," she repeats. "I heard about some people who keep their kids home and act like their teachers." The tone of her voice rankled. She might as well have said she'd heard that people keep their kids home and train them to be snake handlers.

"Yes, Ma'am. It's called homeschooling. That's what we do. We're just here at the LIBRARY looking for a book to supplement the educational process. We're in school. We're not skipping school. We're in it. Right now. Here. AT THE LIBRARY." Smile. Smile. Smile.

The librarian is fighting back guffaws - I can see it behind her eyes. She continues looking for my non-existent, made-up, imaginary book.

"Don't you have to let 'them' know when you're in school or not?" Says she of the mobility scooter.

Sigh. "Yes, Ma'am. I keep it all recorded. It's all legal."

She glares at me LIKE SHE DOESN'T BELIEVE ME. Because we are so very obviously hooligan school skippers - the three of us. Me, in my capri pants and the boys in the sweet matching soccer uniforms and angelic faces. Okay - me, I could understand...I have pink hair and a nose ring, but sweetness and light over there? Please.

The librarian gets a lead and jumps up to go find the book. We follow, just to escape the prying eyes Mrs. Mobile Truant Officer. It wasn't the right book. Dang.

We did manage to get back out of the library and to the house before the police arrived to haul us off to family court. And it's a good thing, too.

We weren't quite finished with our snake-handling lesson.