slow your roll

Hey! Summer! SLOW YOUR ROLL.

No kidding, summer. How the hell are you mid-July already? I have so many things left on my to-do list. I haven't yet looked at that sort-of manuscript, and I haven't gotten to the stack of fifteen--fifteen!--new books of poetry, and I haven't made those nifty Excel charts, and I have a new class to prep and another to revamp, and I have eaten not nearly enough fresh basil. Gah.

On the less-stressful side of things, I don't suppose that I'm going to be moving to Texas. And the bones in my foot are still intact, and today it is overcast enough to sit outside with the laptop in the morning. Usually I have to write inside during the morning and can only move outside, once the backyard is shaded, to do some afternoon editing. But today it's all gray! Small miracles. I also have some milk-flavored Pokemon candy that my brother thoughtfully brought me from China. It tastes a bit like disappointment.

Tomorrow we're headed up nort, Duluth via the Mackinac Bridge and Marquette. Did you know that I lived in Michigan for a year before I figured out that the kac is pronounced kaw? This is particularly embarrassing because there is a rather large building on campus named Mackinac. Michiganders, as it turns out, are a little disdainful when they have to correct you on this point. To them, it's as natural to make a c sound like a w as it is to throw up your right hand to show where you're from.

They also don't understand when you say, Oh, so it's mackinaw, like the jacket? but this may be because they are freshman. Silly freshmen! There is a world of coat nomenclature to explore.

See you on the far side of Duluth, summer. I expect that when I return on the 25th, it will still be the 18th. That's my new rule for you: any time that I spend traveling is not to be counted. Thanks in advance for understanding.


p.s. I am in no way making fun of those who are visually impaired, but I found this today and my first thought was OH MY GOD HOW AWESOME IS A LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND??? and then my second thought was OKAY THAT SEEMS A LITTLE POINTLESS.