blowing own horn #4763

Woke up humming the Sixties song, "Up, up and away, in my beautiful, my beautiful, balloooooon..." OMG, I'm turning into an effervescent Pollyanna. No, not - but right now, with the fall sun shining, I feel great. Not radiantly happy, it's impossible to feel 100% happy in a world in which Rob Ford may be the next mayor of Toronto and Stephen Harper is the Prime Minister of this country, not to mention the disasters, unfairnesses and cruelties out there.

But ... today's saying is this: "Boredom is the feeling that everything is a waste of time; serenity, that nothing is. -Thomas Szasz"

And that's how I feel - busy and serene.

Especially because I've recently received two extremely nice notes from students. Which if you will forgive my swelled-headedness, I'd like to share with you. One wrote, "My daughter asked me what my writing teacher was like. I told her that you are very smart, very kind and very funny."

Can't ask for better than that, except she could have mentioned my total gorgeousness, lustrous brunette hair and sparkling white teeth.

And another wrote, "Thank you for guiding each of us in the direction we needed to go, to tell our stories in the best way we possibly could. I told all my friends that you had that 'Jesus' vibe I enjoy so much - really it just means that you made us all feel safe, and made us know that while our stories were critiqued, they were never judged. You are a great teacher."

Jesus vibe! That's something new. Let's not follow that to its logical conclusion. Right now, my sweaters are all hanging outside in the sun to get rid of the mothball smell; I've just received a shockingly high Hydro bill, because of all the dehumidifying during the summer; the wind is rustling the trees and there's a huge butterfly on the buddleia. I and my Jesus vibe are going grocery shopping. Life is good right now, and that, I think, is all we can ask.

P.S. It's mid-afternoon, and I've had a dreadful day so far - hours of hassles with Roger's, Hydro and tenants. Stress churning the stomach. However - the sun is still shining through the haze, and Marcus Gee, a right-wing columnist in the "Globe," just came out with a stinging evisceration of Rob Ford. There's a ratatouille on the stove, and my home students are coming soon. I think I'll go outside and look for more butterflies.