Random Thoughts on a Rainy Day

It is sunny at this precise moment, but has been raining off and on for the last two days. What better time than to delve into the twisting spiral of the human species.

I am finished with water polo for this year except for the awards banquet. What a evening of tasty morsels and political intrigue that will be. It was a very good season, especially in light of the place I was when I left water polo six years ago. I've seen one game in those six years and didn't miss it a bit. Redemption can hit you when you least expect it.

With water polo off the plate, soccer steps up. Yesterday was Annie's first games, the official's jamboree. Annie is "trying" another new position, and though she is good at it, she hasn't warmed to it fully yet. I was reminded that Central California needs to join the rest of Cali and play high school soccer in a warmer time of the year.

I met an online friend of Maureen's, Frankie, who is another preparedness follower. Maureen dropped off some apples for Frankie and her family and talked while I watched Annie's first game. After I arrived I realized these two could talk for hours about many subjects. Frankie's husband came home and showed off a really nice old Powell bamboo fly rod. Reminded me that I'd like to start fishing, and really fish for food. Wouldn't homemade fish tacos made with freshly caught trout sound good? Another subject for another time. Maureen and Frankie talked for a bit more then they were off to duties and we were back to soccer.

My teaching schedule is changing again. This will be the fourth time this year and probably the classes will change again in January. The school has been trying to find a replacement for an English teacher that resigned. The fall back answer was to have me go back to being an English teacher. One of the classes I have taught for years and even with the new 6 period day it won't be much different than what I've done in the past. The second class, 9th grade university prep will be a new gig. Smart freshman as opposed to smart-aleck freshmen. This should be a hoot.

Baseball will be starting soon. We have some field maintenance and rearranging to do. All needs to be completed and ready for practice in January. And all should make coaching easier and more efficient.

Sam showed us a website years ago, Zen Habits, and from there the mnmlist blog. Over the years the two sites have been interesting reads in the move to simplicity. Hopefully the paring away will continue.

I'll leave you with a long talk on TED by Tim Jackson. Goes with the last paragraph, at least by my thoughts. The teaser thought is this: "A story about us; people being persuaded to spend money we don't have, on things we don't need, to create impressions that won't last, on people we don't care about."

I guess the spiral is moving us downward. Oh that we learn to climb.