JOURNAL: September 13, 2006

The satisfyingly mild weather continued yesterday – weather that sometimes makes we want to skip and run. My students were composed and quiet, as they almost always are, but I’m sure they felt the same impulse I was feeling – to cut loose and race around the fields with abandon. During my classes, we sat at my round table and participated in fairly intelligent and orderly conversations, but I’ll bet we would all rather have been out in the pleasant September air. Actually, it almost grew hot toward the late afternoon. I walked outside around 4:00, felt the warm winds eddying around, and immediately went back into my room, threw off my cotton sweater, rolled up my sleeves, and opened every window. I sat for another hour or so grading papers, beside a window so I could feel the breeze blowing in. Later, around 6:00, I loaded my backpack with 20 pound weights and hiked the hills in the park for 30 minutes. I sweated profusely as I climbed, as though it was July instead of almost autumn. The sun in the western sky was a soft and cool color but was still sending down plenty of heat.