This Week (A New Niece and a Change in the Weather)

First of all, exciting news— I’m proud to announce that I have a new niece! Zach’s brother and sister-in-law are the parents of an adorable little girl named Margot. They live in Pennsylvania, but we’re hoping to go visit them before the year is out to meet the new arrival. ‘Tis the season for babies!

Classes just started up for me, and I’m trying to readjust my brain into “teaching mode” after a long break. It’s hard to believe that I’ve been doing this job, either as an intern or as a full-time writing coach, for 10 years now. 

Along with introducing the new school year, September in St. Louis is pulling its usual weather shenanigans. After a delicious few days of autumn-like temperatures, summer returned with a vengeance, slamming down a 100º+ heat index over the whole area. In despair I retreated back to the air conditioning, staring at my garden through the pane of glass and wondering if I was going to observe yet another crop of carrots die of heat stroke.

Well, so far, so good. I’m not sure the spinach is going to sprout, but the carrots are bravely struggling upward. The peas, on the other hand, continue to flourish. Depending on how long it is before winter starts to nip the air, I may have to use some sort of protective cover for these crops to help them last through a couple frosts. But right now, even with the weather cooling off a bit again, the first frost feels a long way away.

Another random note: this week my brother Francis fixed my bike! It had languished in the garage for a long time, one of those projects I never quite got around to doing. Turns out, all it needed was a new tire. I can’t say that bike-riding is relaxing (my one-speed requires a lot of muscles that I never use for walking), but it’s good exercise and a fun challenge, and it gets me around town a lot quicker, which will be especially helpful with festival season coming up. Also, I can take a quick ride down the Katy Trail to a wide-open expanse of cornfields a couple miles north of our house— sunset over those fields always brings me peace and gratitude for where I live.

Have a great week— and to all my St. Louis friends, stay cool!

~Lisa