the night before the first day back

(photo taken on Ryan's camera phone)

Tomorrow begins orientation for those teaching comp. I've got two semesters' worth ahead of me, and I think I prefer teaching any sort of writing to teaching literature, but I could certainly be wrong. Improving writing feels more tangible to me than improving literature comprehension, but I might just be saying that because it's what I face. It's a bit like the current season often being my favorite--we're facing autumn, so I'm in love with autumn; as winter approaches, I look forward to the snow; we live in Minnesota, so I yearn for spring long before we see evidence of it; summer coming means camping and hiking and Hay Creek.

Things this semester:
- Teaching comp. to first year students
- Taking thesis seminar with Ray Gonzalez, a memoir class with Trish Hampl, and an independent study that will focus on Emily Dickinson + Edna St Vincent Millay + Elizabeth Bishop with Michael Dennis Browne, who is retiring after this semester
- poetry editor for dislocate
- and a few mysterious projects I'm hoping to share in the near future.

Tonight is my last night of summer, always that strange portal of time, and after dinner, while listening to "Heart and Bones" by this local band, my husband and I held hands and watched the fingers of pink and blue mingle with the Mississippi River.