Voyages and Veggie Tales

For the dwindling Veggie Tale enthusiasts, this is a post for you. And for the rest this may require a little bit of explaining and maybe even a small investment of time and attention, but I hope it will be worth it to you. There is a Veggie Tales song called 'The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything' and if you haven't seen/heard it, then you need to stop right now and google it. I'll wait.

Okay, so now I can tell you. I am in Boston!!! Only for about 90 more minutes, but I have been here for four days and it has been amazing. I am starting to feel like I have a lot of favorite places in this world, but Boston is now definitely one of them.

For the last several weeks I have been mourning the fact that I am missing fall. Tucson, from what I have heard, doesn't really have a fall season, and when I asked someone if any of the leaves change color they actually laughed at me. (I wasn't offended and I guess I should have expected it; I have never seen a red, orange, or yellow cactus or palm tree, either.) Oregon has a spectacular fall season, and I have several personal traditions during that time. I rake and jump in leaves, I go running through the "highway of fire" (Teal Blvd in Beaverton when the leaves change), I make pumpkin cookies, and my favorite activity: I collect my favorite leaves and photocopy them in color to do artwork with later. The sadness of missing these things was almost as acute as when I missed blackberry season (and I am not joking when I say that nearly brought me to tears every time I thought about it).

So what did I do? Planned a trip to Boston, of course! I had a friend out there that was kind enough to let me visit, and over the course of the weekend my longing for autumn was appeased. The first day I saw Boston itself, and I don't even remember everything I saw, but the best part of the whole day was buying apples from street vendors and eating them while wandering the narrow but stately streets. The next day was Gloucester (pronounced "Gloster"), which is a coastal town, likely responsible for your weekly dose of fish sticks. It was so fun! I experienced the Atlantic on a whale-watching vessel, I walked up and down the wharf watching the ships, and I carried two live lobster around in a bag for a good portion of the day. (They weren't alive for part of the trip...whoops.) Saturday night found me wandering Little Italy in the north end of Boston, and after some cannoli and lobster for dinner I was ready to call it a day.
Sunday was calmer with church, followed by a walk through the cemetery and an impromptu tour of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's home. Did you know that it was George Washington's headquarters for 9 months at the start of the revolutionary war? I didn't. But now I do!

Today, my last day, I went to Concord, the home of such literary giants as Emerson, Thoreau, and Alcott. I walked all around the city and saw their homes, the Old North Bridge, and other gems of American history while gathering leaves and taking pictures. I talked to the locals, was asked for directions by the tourists, and even stopped at Dunkin' Donuts to get a bagel with pumpkin spread for lunch. It was nearly time to catch my train back, and I was nearly ready when - tender mercy - I happened upon a color copy center! I hurried in to arrange and copy my leaves, the precious proof of fall, and in that moment I felt my journey was fulfilled.

I am content to be returning to Tucson, but to any of you observing the leaves this season I would just say, aren't they marvelous?!? I will never tire of looking at them. And although I don't know when, I am sure that I will be back to Boston, now that I have graduated from being a pirate that doesn't do anything.

If I were a Disney Princess...

Today one of my students likened me to Ariel, the Disney mermaid, not because I have flowing red hair (because I don't) or because I roam the ocean in a seashell bra (because I DEFINITELY don't), but because I lost my voice. Utterly. Completely. Obviously.

It started on Tuesday, with a slight sore throat and a little bit of a tickle. On Wednesday morning my voice was already giving out in certain tonal ranges, and by this morning (Thursday) I was reduced to a breathy whisper, understood only when coupled with absolute silence and lip-reading. I have only lost my voice two or three other times in my life, although never to this extent, and I always thought it was kind of fun to hear it squeak and see what it would do when I tried to say things normally. Of course, I never had anything really important to do then.

Some things are really hard to do without a voice. I have learned what a lot of those things are in the last 36 hours: asking for directions, ordering at a restaurant, answering the phone, and especially teaching first grade. I went to school determined to make it until lunch, and greeted all of my students with a soundless "good morning" at the door. They thought it was funny, and some were genuinely concerned, but overall they behaved very well. I wrote out my comments, instructions, and questions on the whiteboard and I was pleased to see everyone trying to read the messages, even the less competent readers. They helped each other to understand what I was saying, and I had several volunteers for a personal assistant.

But even with the best behavior, it was pretty challenging to teach a math lesson, and phonics was out of the question, so I sent them off to lunch and called in for a substitute. How fun! Now I had the rest of the afternoon free!

First I wanted to call my mom. Wait...she can't hear me. Hmmm, I thought, maybe I will go find out more about that piano playing job at the retirement center! Nope, that is out, too. I ended up spending a silent afternoon cleaning my apartment and taking a nap, and I was sad to not be able to sing as I did the dishes, because that is one of the few times when I do. I think I normally identify more with Cinderella (just because of the activities that bring on her spontaneous bursts of song), but for this week I guess I am stuck with a closer resemblance to the Disney girl in the seashell bra.

P.S. If I had to choose a Disney character that I identify most with, it would undoubtedly be Meg from Hercules.