This was the light as I walked Olga yesterday morning. Is that autumnal, or what? It's so interesting how the light changes color at this time of year, and takes on that golden quality.
As The Seattle Times explained back in September 2011:
The position of the sun in the sky is changing. That, in turn, alters how we perceive color and light. In the height of summer, the sun is as far overhead as it gets. But the sun drops and drops after the summer solstice in June — and the change speeds up at the midpoint toward winter. Right about now.So it's not our imagination, and it's not a function of the changing leaves or any other terrestrial cause. The light really is different.
Olga took some time to sniff a bit of blooming borage. (Say THAT three times fast!) We didn't get any borage in our garden this year. Maybe I'll collect some seeds from this plant, if it survives long enough to set them. (It's in an area that is occasionally mowed.)
Yesterday was about as different as I could possibly expect from any workday earlier in the week. Things have been so busy and chaotic, and then yesterday ALL the students were gone on field trips! And all the teachers went with them as chaperones! Woo hoo!
The library was silent, and I mean silent. I shelved books, organized some things, did some paperwork, and read blogs. A handful of adults came in to use the printer or work quietly in one of the study areas. As I told a colleague in another office when I saw her at the coffee machine, "I feel like I work in a library!"
It was fabulous.
If our library was always like this, rather than a midday playground for 10th graders to horse around and munch illicit potato chips, oh, I would be in heaven.
The strangest thing happened to me last night. I was brushing my teeth to go to bed, and when I finished I felt a rough spot on one of my lower front teeth. I thought maybe something was stuck there, but no -- I appear to have broken off a part of the tooth while brushing! How I managed to do this, I have no idea. The tooth looks normal from the front, but in back, near the tip, there's a place where a bit of the enamel feels like it's come off.
Is it just coincidence that this happened only weeks after getting my teeth cleaned? Hmmmm...
Anyway, I suppose now I need to go back to the dentist, to at least have her look at this and see if it needs filling or some other treatment. It doesn't hurt at all.
Why do these things always happen on a FRIDAY?
Does this count as a "new adventure"?
One of the classic "Yes Minister" episodes was that of a newly completed hospital with no patients, and no intention of having any patients in the near to medium term. The explanation was that patients would only create more work, and therefore the health dept would have to hire more workers, and therefore more money, not to mention the mess the patients would create, requiring extra work to clean up - and so on and so on. The upshot was that it was cheaper to maintain a hospital empty. Same could be said for a lot of things - school without any kids springs to mind! LOL
ReplyDeleteInteresting about the changing light. I always simply accepted it and never thought about the why. Sorry about the tooth adventure. Just say YES?
ReplyDeleteThe fear that runs through you when something is wrong with the teeth is horrible. I really dread the dentist, I have to go in a few weeks but saying that I'm lucky to have a dentist to go to. My son has just found one after three years of looking.
ReplyDeleteBriony
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We often said at work that universities would be fantastic places but for the students. I'm sure the dentist will sort you out simply and painlessly except for the cost.
ReplyDeletePeace in your time, at work at least.
ReplyDeleteThat's not great about your tooth. Maybe just a little grind to smooth it out.
We were hurrying out to catch a tram and I went to put the dishwasher on. Empty of rinse aid and I had no time to refill it. Things do happen at inconvenient times.
David, you have forgotten how efficient the hospital was. One of the best in England.
ReplyDeleteI've often thought how much better public transport would run without passengers. They are the real problem.
The light is lovely in the photo; I never really thought about the change as part of the sun's position in the sky.
ReplyDeleteAh, the adventure of dental work ...
Yes, autumn light is different...the sunlight says Enjoy me while you can...
ReplyDeleteWhat bliss to have a library feeling like a library! I suppose it is a bonus that it is somewhere the 10th graders feel easy being in..
Yes! New adventures....
Commiserations re tooth...I think my new bottom plate has cracked an upper molar... botheration 😢
I broke off a very small piece of tooth eating a tuna sandwich once. It happens.
ReplyDeleteGood explanation of the way light changes as the seasons progress. I absolutely have noticed that it does happen and now I know why. Thank you!
That's a lovely photo of Olga sniffing the bloom! How sweet!
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful to have a quiet Friday! And a quiet library on top of that. It WOULD be heaven!
ReplyDeleteYes, I'd have a word or two with the dentist or hygenist. Seems like that should have been caught with the poking and prodding. Makes you wonder.
I love this light. It's especially beautiful in the later afternoon when the light tends to "gold up" a little anyway. And in the early morning. I can tell first thing when I get up in the morning by how it reflects off the trees across the street.
A quiet Friday is the best way to start the weekend. Yay!
ReplyDeleteInteresting about the sun and the color of light. I'm going to go and read more about that. I love learning something new about our skies.
I hope all goes well with that tooth and your next dental journey.
Changes in light happen so very slowly and gradually that we don't notice. So show a June 21 photo and a Sept 22 photo.
ReplyDeleteThat's funny. I was admiring the way the morning sun was lighting the old maples in the back yard this very morning. It was foggy out with such a breath taking touch of gold.
ReplyDeleteAdventures in dentistry....somehow that doesn't have a great ring to it. I've noticed the change in light here too. Although, I think it's a bit more subtle this far south but, still there is a change in the light. There is something about that light change that makes me feel a bit nostalgic in a pleasant way.
ReplyDeleteMy son had a similar dental incident. Certainly makes you think....
ReplyDeleteI love the change of light in the fall and it really does seems to speed up in September!
I have to admit that having a job where I have time to and am allowed to catch up on reading blogs would be incredible.
ReplyDeleteIf it isn't causing me pain I tend to let things like that be til the next scheduled appointment. glad you had a nice quiet day at work.
ReplyDeleteI've had bits of tooth break off, and a quick grinding made it okay in no time. But I was unnerved all the same.
ReplyDeleteI hate the white light of August, and always feel relief when it turns yellower in September, then gold in October. It's clearly a physical happening rather than an impression.
New dental adventures are never what we want. I've been seeing more golden light too.
ReplyDeleteWhen we were in Vienna and Prague, the US embassies were massively guarded. I wanted to take a picture of them, the buildings, but was run off by armed people. The US was not presenting a welcoming vibe there. That building is pretty cool, in London. Our light is beginning to change here, although it's still pretty warm.
ReplyDeleteOr you could just sue the dentist's office for damaging your tooth, retire from the library business on the windfall you'd win, and live happily ever after, just dawdling about in your garden all day.
ReplyDeleteOr not.
Enamel comes off teeth sometimes. It is a thing that happens once in a while as we get older. I panicked first time. Now I don't.
ReplyDeleteDavid: Ha! I've been in some hospitals here that seem to follow that model.
ReplyDeleteMitchell: I'm not sure what else I can say!
Briony: Is he going through the NHS? I've heard it can be a challenge to find an NHS dentist. We pay privately for dental so it's much easier, but it IS expensive.
Tasker: I'm sure every teacher can identify with that joke!
Andrew: I dunno -- around here the train strikes are what's interfering with public transportation!
Bob: It was interesting to think about WHY it changes color.
GZ: Oh no! That's not good. Hope it's not a major fix.
Ms Moon: I suppose teeth weaken gradually and then the failure can come at any time, regardless of what you're eating.
Ellen D: It probably means some other dog peed on it. LOL
Jeanie: Yes, it's at its most golden in the mornings and evenings.
Robin: It's fascinating to think these seasonal changes have been going on for hundreds of thousands of years.
Red: Yeah, that would be an interesting exercise! The same photo at each solstice and equinox. Hmmmm...I'm going to think about that.
Debby: We're all attuned to seasonal changes. Part of our survival as a species, I guess!
Sharon: Autumn DOES have a nostalgic feel, a sort of inherent sadness at the passage of summer.
Kelly: I know! I can't help but wonder if my teeth would have been better off if I hadn't had them cleaned. But I suppose if it was weak enough to break afterwards it would have done so anyway.
Karen: That's the advantage of a "customer service" job (which mine essentially is) when there are no customers around!
Ellen: I might do the same. The downside is, if something needs to be fixed to prevent future damage to the tooth, it's better done now than later.
Boud: I agree about August, though it's not so bad in this far northern latitude. In Florida, my home state, August is like a blast furnace.
Margaret: A necessity, though, I suppose! (Well, getting them treated, anyway.)
Allison: Our whole society has become so militarized, from our police to our government services.
Catalyst: YES! THAT'S MY NEW PLAN!
Rachel: I may just wait to see if it causes me any discomfort, and if not, I'll just live with it.