Jungle Shadows

Sometimes on my lunch hour at work, after I eat, I sit in the corner of one of the library's quiet rooms and read or respond to blog comments. Yesterday I went in there and this was the scene (above). Is there any plant that makes a better shadow than a Monstera? I've blogged our library Monstera before -- it's been there longer and I have and longer than any of my predecessors. I'm not sure anyone at the school can remember a time it wasn't resident in the library. (The plant itself is just around the corner to the left, by the window.)

I wound up not answering comments yesterday because I was shooting pictures of the shadows instead, and just letting my mind decompress. I did read them all, though, and appreciated every one!

Yesterday I worked with two Lower School classes. These first-graders (above) decided to slide beneath the couch to read their books, which I thought was pretty funny. (Their heads were sticking out the other side.) In case anyone ever asks you how many first-graders fit beneath a couch, now you know the answer -- at least three. I bet another one could have squeezed in there.

If I get ambitious today, I'm going to try to make soup with our front-porch pumpkins. I also hope to make more headway in "The Old Curiosity Shop," and I have an adult birthday party to attend this evening. Hopefully Dave will feel well enough to go with me. He seems better today. I felt a bit woozy yesterday afternoon, like I might be coming down with something, but the feeling subsided to maybe I've fended it off.

It's a comparatively balmy 40º F (4.4º C) as I write this, and the low temperatures won't be below 40º F for the foreseeable future. Liberating the avocado from its sheath is also on the day's agenda.