Back to School

First day of class at UT this past Monday. I could only afford to take one class this semester, and paying for that single class literally broke the bank for me. Sometimes I feel like putting up a PayPal account on my blog for donations. It would read something like, "All donations for poor, struggling hard-working older college student will be greatly appreciated."

I have to get my past financial aid mess cleaned up, and then hopefully I'll be able to get some federal aid in my ongoing educational career.

Anyway, the class is an upper-level Fiction Writing course, and I think I'm going to really enjoy it. The class is small--about fourteen people--and the professor is cool and creative and quite learned. My only gripe: The Humanities building classroom apparantely has no air conditioning.

You know what, though? I love it all: The intimidating size of the university, the swarms of milling students' bodies, even the hot stuffy non-air-conditioned classroom.

Summer Reading

Is there anything better to do on a hot summer day than drift around the lake or pool on a float with your favorite book?

Pretty hard to top. Monday we went up to Norris Lake (probably the prettiest and cleanest lake around these parts), where our friend took us out on the water in his boat. The lake water was that rich bright green, and with the goodly supply of rain we've had this year, the water level was very high and clean. You could see the fish flitting around your feet in the clear water.

The sun was so hot, and there were maybe two big puffy white clouds in the blindingly blue sky. It felt so good to dive into the lake from the boat, the water a perfect temperature, and so cool and silky. After slathering copious amounts of sunscreen on my face and body, I wriggled onto the float and read for a few minutes before falling asleep, lulled by the rocking of the gentle waves, and the warm sunlight.