The one where she blogs about blogging

Yes, it's a meta-post I'm making. This week in a class o'mine we had to write a "literacy narrative" which is a fancy way of explaining how we learned to read, why we like to read, and why we think reading is important/why we're English majors. Yes, my major is hard. We had to turn this narrative in as in digital form (as a blog) and incorporate digital aspects into it (that's pictures for you more technical folks who might be getting impressed.) I enjoyed this assignment thoroughly and I thought I'd share the finished product with you all.

keepthelightsburning.weebly.com

The One Where I Lived the Dream

When I was a little girl, one of my favorite books of all time was a James Harriot story called "The Christmas Day Kitten." In this story, a little kitten shows up at a lonely lady's home on Christmas morning. I was always drawn to the way how sad both the lady and the kitten were at the beginning of the book and how happy they made each other at the end. I think I thought it was cool that they were able to help each other and make life easier.

This week. Yesterday to be exact. I actually watched this story take place FOR REAL. I was walking from Murphy Hall (music building) to Watson (library).... no wait, back up. A few weeks ago, I was sitting on campus outside enjoying the day when I was certain I saw a kitten go running by. I dismissed it though because, well, why would there be cats on campus? Back to real time. Yesterday as I was doing my late afternoon walk, I saw a very old lady sitting in the middle of the sidewalk next to a bush. I was confused at first. Then I saw her take food out of her bag and push it into the bush. Naturally I stopped. What could she be doing? I wondered.

I perched myself next to her on the sidewalk and asked her this question. She laughed and pointed into the bush. There I saw, not one, but four cats. A huge, lusciously white tom cat. A small, prim, gray tabby. And two beautiful, sleek kittens. They stared back out at me with as much astonishment that I had found their hiding place as I had in seeing them.

How long has they lived here? I asked. And then Carol (our cat-rescuer's name) began to tell me about a winter ten years ago when she was walking around campus on Thanksgiving. During this particular walk, she noticed a little calico cat following her crying. Upon closer examination, she realized that the cat was pregnant, and so very hungry. So she carried the kitty, which she named Lady, home to feed and care for. And so began this process which has led to ten years of carrying food and shelter to these tiny cats who, instead of living ferral homeless lives, have found themselves the most loving and compassionate mother imaginable.

I Started Lookin For Excuses

I have a confession to make to you friends. I have been putting this post off for multiple reasons.

First. MAN I don't want to have to account for the past five months of my life outside of this

Second. I have been lacking vision for what to write about. Let's shoot for more than just random words which we throw up on the screen.

Third. It was summer. And let's be real, summertime is not the time for sitting introspectively in front of a computer screen. It's the time to be laying in a field full of grass dreaming about cloud men and the future and doing greatly enormously amazing things with our lives. Summer is a time for dreaming, not for doing. And friends, I dreamed this summer. I also did stuff, but mostly, I climbed onto the lazy river float and just went with the current. It was a delight to stop paddling for a while and to let the river carry me.

But now we're back. It's fall. I have been overcome by the desire to drink hot apple cider and to eat pumpkin pie. I have broken out the sweaters and jeans. And I have jumped out of the lazy river and into the big kid pool -- you know, the one with high dives and crazy older kids who know how to do cool backflips. This metaphor is breaking down, but you catch my meaning I'm sure.

So since we're jumping into new things, why not jump into some new blogging? Let's share this fall and enjoy the passing of seasons and days together. I promise to write you long epistles about the cool books I'm reading and happenstances, and you can promise me to send me long epistles about your fantastic adventures. What fun! If summer is the time for sprawling and dreaming, then fall is the time for energy and color and delight as the air gets crisper and the world comes alive with brilliance for one last Tango before winter.