Almost Winter

We are waiting for the real winter weather to hit. We're ready. We've got all the winter gear ready for Sprouts and grownups. The snow tires are on the car. The canoe is pulled up from the lake. All we need is snow.

I was tickled to find a powder blue puffer-jacket in a slim-cut style at the VV boutique a few weeks ago in the city, and have been itching to get it on. It is exactly the style I have been hunting down for the past two years. More thrills at the end of a long chase!

Today was a perfect day for it. Just frosty enough to add a bit more mass to the ice creeping across the lake surface, but not really cold. The kind of weather that makes yard duty enjoyable (if you dressed for it).

Yard duty was also enjoyable because I got to watch a large group of boys in the middle grades working very cooperatively trying to build a fort in the bush. They were discussing various logs and building techniques as if they were architects and structural engineers. As I walked down the hill with two of them after the bell rang, they were commenting to me on how important it was that no little kids went in it, in case they got hurt.

What a treat to hear these boys, who often struggle for ways to relate that we adults find appropriate, having such an earnest dialogue. It is good to see this side of the students. Too often I get bogged down in dealing with behaviours. Much nicer to enjoy watching them play.