Lazy Late Summer

During the past week Melody and I have been listening to Graceland incessantly. Though it has been a good summer, we are fighting the dying of the light and the oncoming work with verse after verse of "You Can Call Me Al" and "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes." Paul Simon makes a good ally for this sort of thing. Still, very soon I shall be forced to become, in Melody's teasing words, "a productive member of this marriage." As my beautiful patron, she has long upheld me and my studies in return for sweet nothings. But this fall I shall glean more than wisdom from my books, I shall earn (meager) wages. Two days a week I will be teaching Latin to 6th, 7th, and 8th graders, having taken an intensive course where I thoroughly drowned in the final week. In comparison, my students will be no problem. I will also continue as an assistant at the Greenfield Library of St. John's College. Apparently, Melody's co-workers derive endless amusement from this fact: "You married the librarian!" But they seem to like Melody, and Melody likes them and her patients. She often comes home with stories of pure love. I suppose cancer can often bring out the worst in people, but from the way Melody talks, nearly all her families find peace. And that is an encouraging thought.

So. I relinquish my laziness, but perhaps we can reserve a few evenings for this lovely porch.