Good Stuff

I spent much of yesterday grading papers, making up for a tiny little bit of procrastination earlier in the week.  But while I was sitting here at the computer, the alert bell went off and I took a detour to the Heartsong essay contest to see who the winners were.   

I can only say:  Wow!  I am totally thrilled and humbled to have my Water's Edge piece singled out.  When I read through the entries last week, I kept thinking, "Oh, this one will win!"  Or, "No, this one's even better!"  So I feel truly honored even to have been noticed.  And for anyone who hasn't been there yet, head over to read Marigold2's winning writing.  You will want to pack your bags for the Texas hill country immediately.  

One of my sons came home from college for the week-end.  He needed a tooth filled and, as it turns out, he still has one to go.  He had one filled over the holidays, too -- the perils of his addiction to Coke, I'm afraid.  At any rate, it was incredibly nice to have him around the house for a couple of days.  He and I went out together to our favorite Italian restaurant on Friday night -- his dad was off coaching in a soccer tournament and his sister was at an orchestra concert with friends -- and had a chance for a long conversation about the other challenges in his life: making it through college and sustaining a relationship with a young lady in France.  

Today was a big day for me personally: it was elder/deacon ordination day in our church and I'm a new elder.  It was exciting to be a part of the solemnity and excitement as a new class of leaders fumbled its way to the starting line.  (All right, I should speak only for myself.  I was pulled a dozen  different ways this morning so I felt more like a klutz than anything else as I kept trying and failing to get to the right spot at the right time.  The church will no doubt survive.)  

Now I'm back to grading papers.  Colonial governments, craftspeople, writers, pirates, statesmen, wars and witch trials -- bring on the Revolution!  I'm more than ready.