my new math

this planting season calls for patience. i'm counting the days. june 16th and still too wet to garden.

so i've had to mark summer in new ways. one shift i enjoy is not eating any more of those frozen lunches; you know, the kind that you mindlessly microwave for 3 minutes in the teacher's lounge? today i bought only green and leafy, colorful fresh produce. and canning jars, a hopeful symbol that there will, in fact, be something to preserve.

and i made a new summer section for my bucket list which includes taking welding lessons. oh, and there is this other thing...

while i was housesitting i came across a college algebra book. i opened it and discovered the text was written by a former 70's hippie who also likes to raise roosters. i liked this guy. he had beatle's glasses on in the author bio and i think his name was bob. i thought, "if bob likes math, maybe i can do it too". i hate math. once i was asked to teach it and i politely responded, "i'd rather be a mortician." i'm so bad at it that i can't even help the 7th graders in study hall with their arithmetic.

so, with a free evening on my hands, i made tea and opened the book. and loved it! everything that bob had outlined made sense! basic algebraic equations, formulas and fractions. grabbing a pencil and good old college rule paper, i set about the exercises. pages and pages later, i realized i wanted to work my way through the entire book! not only did i understand it--no small redemption from failings in junior high and high school--but it was actually...fun.

who knew?!