Sunday Salon, Nov. 1

Weather: It rained REALLY hard here yesterday. We had a few small ponds develop in the backyard. Today it looks overcast, more rain is predicted.

Sad week: This past week two of my colleagues died. For those of us on staff at my school it was like receiving a one-two punch. We were all staggering around trying to stay upright. Really sad circumstances, too.

• Sheri was 53 and died from breast cancer last Sunday. She had been battling the disease for two years and seemed really healthy until the last few months. She died at home surrounded by family. Her service was yesterday at a funeral home in Bremerton, where she grew up. When the bagpipes played Amazing Grace, I just lost it and my tears flowed as heavily as the rain that was coming down in torrents. She was retired from the Air Force and her second career was as an English teacher at my school. Last year she moved to the district office to work as a Tech Specialist. She was much loved by staff and students.
• Rebecca was in her late 50s and died of lung cancer on Wednesday. She went into the hospital a few days before she died because she was having difficulty breathing. It was then that the lung cancer was detected and they found a tumor which was squeezing into her throat. Her sudden death caught us all off guard. Rebecca was a paraprofessional in the Special Education department and had worked in our building since it opened. She loved her students which really says something since many times her students aren't very lovable. Sadly Rebecca had spent years taking care of her husband who was in poor health yet she preceded him in death.

Love up on your friends and family while you can: a line from the Maya Angelou poem, "When Great Trees Fall", keeps coming to mind and reminds me to make those calls and take those walks...
Our memory, suddenly sharpened,
examines,
gnaws on kind words
unsaid,
promised walks
never taken...

Football: in the good news department, my high school's football team won their game on Friday night and beat the cross district rivals to have an undefeated season. They now go into the playoffs at the state level.  Go Eagles!

Halloween candy...we handed out candy to about 150 trick-or-treaters last night. That's a lot of candy!

A Wonderful list: 50 of the most beautiful sentences ever written. Take the time to savor them. (Open them in a new browser.)

Happily listening to a bark muffled by a giraffe stuffed toy...Muffy is doing great and she is so happy and frisky these days.  It is as if we have our dog back!

Books read this week:

• Hired Girl by Laura Amy Schlitz---set in 1911, the story of a young girl who is a servant in a wealthy Jewish household. I liked it but it was so long (read "too long.")
• Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo---A National Book Award winner about life in a slum in Mumbai. Very depressing, yet revealing.

Currently reading:

• I Crawled Through It by A.S.King---it is written in a surrealistic style. Not sure I have ever encountered something like this before. Weird.
• The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness---Carly describes it as realism with a touch of paranormalism (I don't think that is a word.)
• Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War by Steve Sheinkin---I'm back to reading (actually, listening to) this book after a month hiatus.

Narrows Bridge/Gallopin' Gertie---yesterday my friend Sharon and I drove over the Narrows Bridge across the Puget Sound en route to Bremerton for the funeral. Signs were flashing, warning us of severe side winds. We still drove across and were fine.  When I got home I learned that this week is the 75th anniversary of when The Narrow Bridge turned into Gallopin' Gertie.