Novelty

Our kids’ school year hasn’t formally started; the new school they’ll be attending doesn’t start up until after Labor Day.  But they’ve had a few summer Latin lessons and orchestra rehearsals, and this coming week they’ll go on an outdoor retreat with their new classmates . . . with temperatures nearing 100.

Sydney and I, meanwhile, will be juggling our first week of classes at Asbury, and hoping the A/C holds up under such demands.  This is Sydney’s first academic year as a full-time, tenure-track professor, so he has to march in academic regalia for the opening ceremony.  We’ll be two overly warm people in black velvet and red at the front of the hall!

We are also juggling life with a new cat, after our black-and-white one, Domino, died earlier this summer.  Dusty is a young, springy cat who is making sure Dexter gets some exercise.  But both, as you see below, are treacherous on the carpeted stairs.

Katherine maintains a spotless pollinator garden, and her flowers have done beautifully this year.  She has three hummingbirds visit regularly.  She has also had real success with basil (of four different varieties), and we try to talk her into trimming it occasionally so that the insects are happy and we get to use some of it in the kitchen.

Erin