Back to Figs/Back to School

 So, the seasons cycle around again and here I am once more with an abundance of figs. I used to not like figs. I don't think it was until I was grown up and ate some fig with goat cheese and baguette that I began to like them. 

I preserved some last week and then picked more to preserve today. There are still many, many figs on the bush for the birds and possums or whomever else wants to eat them. 

We've also been putting them in the air fryer for a few minutes, cut in half and sprinkled with sugar. What a treat after a stressful day at school!

On the last day before I had to go back to school we went up toward Tennessee to the place where the white water events were held during the 1996 Summer Olympics. It is a lovely place and cooler than the city. We put our feet in the water and tried to relax a little.

We noticed that all of the places marked "Scenic View" were not all that scenic because the vegetation had grown up and obscured everything, and the trails were overgrown. I guess the crews that normally maintain these areas have not been on the job because of the virus, and/or cuts to the state park or road crew budgets.

My oldest son celebrated his birthday, although we didn't have a get-together here. He came by and we sat at social distance out on the back patio.

We teachers are in the school building each day, working from our classrooms. It is strange and a little depressing. I miss the clamor and bustle of the students. I miss their predictable and unpredictable jokes. We have yet to actually meet with them, but I am not enthusiastic about being online all day with them as they "move" from class to class, and I am sure they are not either.

We are not working from home because it gives the public the idea we are not working. However, I miss working from my table at the windows. Now, I work from inside the cinderblock walls of my room. I haven't decorated much because there won't be students in the room, but I think I need to get something in there to encourage me.  A lamp will be the first thing. If there isn't enough movement in the room, the lights go out automatically, so every 15 minutes or so, the lights go off, so I have to get up and walk around and try to trigger the lights. So many teachers are sitting in the dark. Isn't that sad?

I would so rather be here at my table looking out the window at my pond and garden. This morning I watched a pair of goldfinches duel over echinacea seeds and a young flicker stop by for a drink and a bath.

By the way, if you have not seen window-swap.com, you should check it out. People from all over the world are posting pictures of what they see from their windows. I think I could easily spend an hour there!