The Week at Holden

So I've done my kids the favor of getting them hooked on the current run of "Doctor Who," and they in turn have introduced me to their private obsessions, most notably a young adult series called "Ranger's Apprentice." That one's stuck; I'm still in queue for one of my students to finish Book 5 so I can knock it out in a day and a half. (Remember when books only took that long to read? They still do, if you read the right sort of books.) Just today, the village fifth grader offered me the first volume of "Guardians of GaHoole", a perhaps misguided attempt to extend an olive branch, as the book appears to chronicle the epic journey of some barn owls, but then it turns out the main owl's name is Soren, so, cool.

In other news, P.E. has consisted lately of floor hockey inside the Village Center, which, due to the season, is both unheated and unobstructed by pews. We're that low on power; floor hockey is played in full, bundle-up snow gear. The high school beat the mavericks and have named themselves the FloorLords. There's talk of knitting matching hats and jerseys, and yes, they're capable of that.

We're into China in World Geography, which means I get to spend next week digging out Mencius, Hsun Tzu and Chuang-tze (I'm reading The Tao of Pooh to get myself in the mood). After the triumph of Drama's One Act Night (featuring the last scene of Hamlet and David Ives' WORDS, WORDS, WORDS), I've got the kids working on Duet Monologues while I privately debate the feasibility of mounting two productions before I leave the Village: in the running are THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (ABRIDGED), Oscar Wilde's THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST, and a heavily edited version of Stephen Adly Guirgis' THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT.

I also have more books checked out on my public library card for students than for myself, and when a student correctly identified person and number for a preterite verb in Spanish class I almost teared up.

We still can't use clothes dryers (not enough hydro-electric power to fuel them AND the dish washer AND the lights in Koinonia AND...). There's been no new snow in four days. The sun is out a little longer and a little longer each morning, and I've taken to spending those hours barefoot -- whether inside or, occasionally, out on the thirty inches of snow we do have. I'm not sure you can predict how that feels except you try it.