The Week That Was (Continued)

Thursday, August 31st -- The highlight this day was getting started with my Literature of the South course. The class is made up of six graduate students and around eleven undergraduates. I tried to do the music discussed in one of my recent blogs, but it didn't work out. The equipment in the electronic classroom wasn't being cooperative. I had some intense religious singing from an African American group on one of the east coast islands, some humor from the Appalachian foothills over in Wilkes County, North Carolina, and a couple of other audio renditions of pieces in our anthology. But when it came to my idea of playing Neil Young and Lynyrd Skynyrd and such, the CD I made on one computer--the one in my office--wouldn't work on the one in the classroom. So we ended up just looking at lyrics, which worked fairly well. I now have the music in another format and will introduce it from time to time as the semester goes forward.

Friday, September 1st -- I just worked around the office, for the most part. In the evening, Raleigh had a demo team performance at the tae kwon do school, but other than that, things were fairly quiet.

Saturday, September 2nd -- This is the building that was Walnut United Methodist Church, where on another Saturday, September 2nd (back in 1989), Leesa and I were married. Our 17th anniversary celebration was fairly low key. We drove over to North Carolina, where we first dropped Raleigh off at my mom's and then headed up to spend some time together in Asheville. We had plans for a movie and a fancy meal at Bonefish Grill, but in the end, we ditched those ideas and just hung out together. A student of mine--for whom I'd written an apparently successful recommendation letter--had given me a giftcard for Panera Bread. So we went there and ate. Then we went to visit a friend who lives in Givens Estates and had a wonderful time just sitting and visiting with her for an hour or so. When she had to go to church at the big First Methodist downtown, Leesa and I headed for the place that had been our destination since coming up with the idea of an Asheville anniversary: Cold Stone Creamery. It's just off I-240, in a new shopping area where an old bleachery used to be. After ice cream, we went into the Wal-Mart that anchors the area. Isn't the 17th traditionally the "give the gift of Wal-Mart" anniversary? Leesa bought me a couple of shirts, and I bought her some Dixie Cups that she likes for her coffee. After Wal-Mart, we went downtown to Marble Slab Creamery to carry out a taste test. MSC is quite good, but we both prefer CSC. Then it was 8:00 and time to get Raleigh and head back over the mountain to our Tennessee home.

Sunday, September 3rd -- The morning at Cherokee United Methodist Church was the highlight of this day. I got to make some good music with friends, hear a friend preach an interesting sermon based on the Song of Songs and then laugh and talk with yet more friends in Sunday School.

Monday, September 4th -- This morning, believe it or not, I finally finished unpacking from my trip into the West, and in the process I discovered that somewhere along the line I left the wrestling shoes I use for indoor exercising. I'd had them a long time and was bummed to find that I had them no longer. Just after noon, Leesa and I dropped Raleigh off to see a movie with friends, and while he was at the theater, we ate at Smokey Bones and then shopped for a new sound system for her home salon. (We seem to be replacing these little shelf systems every too-few months.) In the evening, we went to a party hosted by one of my colleagues in the English department and her husband. Raleigh initially went with us, but as he was approaching the people gathered in the garage and under tented tarps, he said, "I see people with canes." I had told him there probably wouldn't be anybody his age there, and when he and Leesa got back in the car so that she could take him home, he said to her, "I don't think there's anybody your age there either." We had a good time and enjoyed the company and the new people we met.

Tuesday, September 5th -- Still in progress at this moment but almost over. I spent much of the day in the office, making one trip out to Cherokee to meet with the music director about songs for the coming Sunday services. Now it's almost 9:00, and I'm going to publish this and read more Plato before going to bed. . . .