Summer Ends / Autumn Begins

School has begun. It seems late, but then maybe that's because southern California doesn't have to build in snow days, so they can start later and save on air conditioning bills (not that that's a concern out here on the island).

We had a clean-up day at the Little Red Schoolhouse (LRS) a week ago to pick up trash, fix up gardens, and generally spruce up the place. The building was just painted, too. It turns out this is the 20th anniversary of the LRS, so they're doing an extra special sprucing up this year. We also had a Welcome cook-out for the new teacher (we'll call her Ms Frizzle in honor of the Magic Schoolbus series). She seems very nice and very together. She has 20 years experience and knows the island and its issues. There is a great sense of community amongst the school parents and the various people who volunteer their time at the school (there's a couple who comes to teach music, and another who donates school supplies each year, for instance). It was nice to meet all of them while the kids played together.

The first week (well, three days) of school went pretty well. The first day, Ms Frizzle had the kids gather on the steps in front of all the parents and sing a special LRS song. Then the bell was rung (yes, there's a bell in the little bell house on top!) and in the kids went. Thing1 didn't exactly stay out of trouble, but we haven't received a note home yet. Most of this first week seems to be Ms Frizzle trying to figure out what the kids know so she can plan curriculum for the kids. After school, many of the kids go to a house across the courtyard for after-care, so Thing1 plays with them (after doing his homework, of course). Thing2 is spending his days at home with Sweetie, and has been very excited to see Thing1 when he gets home.

Another sure sign of autumn is the decreased activity in the harbor. Which means a slowing down of the tourist activity in town, which means, well, here's an example. Last week (Labor Day weekend) we decided to get a pizza for dinner from the snack bar on Friday night. So I wandered down and (eventually) got one and we enjoyed it, so we thought we'd try that again this week. I walked down to the snack bar at 5:30 to find it closed. Hrm. I looked around for a sign showing their current hours, only to be disappointed. Hrm. Life in a small tourist town. Looks like it's frozen pizzas until Memorial Day.

We now have a planned date for moving our stuff. I'm not exactly sure when it will arrive here, but we know when it will leave Maryland. The house still hasn't sold, but we occasionally have second showings, so maybe someday soon.