That Skift of Snow

 

Polar Vortex

Cold, cold, cold! I spent Monday with an afghan over my legs, a hot drink at my side-- listening to Persuasion and drawing and painting.

The power is still on; the water still running.

 

A kind of appropriate beginning to the next four years.

Circle the wagons; prepare your blanket forts. It's going to be rocky.

Snowy Morning

 

A Strange Novel

                                                                             

This novel, set at an elite English prep school and told from two points of view: one of the long-time masters, deeply entrenched in and loyal to the school, and the child of the school's porter/handyman, an outsider longing to be a part of the gilded youth who attend the school.

The novel resonated with me on several levels. I once taught at a prep school (though it was in no way as grandiose as this one and the inter-faculty scheming nothing like.) I also understood the porter's child sense of an outsider looking at an unattainable world. For several years I met classes with the Great Smokies Writing Program at The Asheville School--an expensive and elite boarding school with a glorious campus. At first I found myself wanting to grab every passing student and ask if they knew how fortunate they were to be there. 

But this book. I found myself reading compulsively, caught up in the twists and turns of academic plotting, a most likeable teacher, and the wiles of an exceedingly clever child. 

And then, about midway through, I began to feel a little sickened--as one might having gobbled down unwholesome food. I should have been warned by a blurb that compared the book to Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr. Ripley. Mr. Ripley gave me that same sense of queasiness--not from gratuitous sex or violence but from the pervasive amorality of the main character.

Nevertheless, I persevered. Events were tumbling together and the answers to several questions seemed close at hand. And then there was the most amazing twist--so amazing that I'm going to have to go back and look for any clues that might have hinted at this outcome.

I marvel at the intricacy of the plotting. Quite an interesting novel! Available as an ebook for 1.99

Addendum: I did go back--not precisely a re-read, but paging through paying attention to certain names to see how the deception was managed. 

Brilliantly, that's how. I found my appreciation for the novel growing--to the point that I am tempted to download its sequel. 

Another addendum: I did read the sequel (A Different Class) and quite enjoyed it. Now that I was aware of the author's propensity for trickery, I paid close attention. She still outwitted me,

Josie's Snow Day With Snow

No school again! Monday was MLK Day and I stayed with Meema. Tuesday was a snow day and even Mama didn't go to work so I stayed home with her. Wednesday school was closed AGAIN and the road up to Meema and Grumpy's was so icy that me and Daddy had to walk up. I took my short cut and Meema saw me coming and took a picture through the window. Daddy was on the road and he was yelling You can't go that way. But I did

I had some homework to do so after pancakes, I got started. 

There was a thing about being a good citizen at school. 

Grumpy said he would help but I could do it myself. I think I am a good citizen at school.

I did lots of stuff. Me and Meema played Go Fish. She won one and I won one. 

Then I organized the shelves where my games and art supplies and stuff are. First, I took everything out. There were some crumpled pieces of paper that Meema tried to throw away, but I grabbed them from her and put them in a box. When Meema fussed, I told her I would use them for crafts.

Do you see how nice it looks now? I found lots of stuff I'd forgotten about. 

Like this book. I worked on it while I ate lunch.

It is a pirate story but you have to fill in the blanks. I named the pirate ship The Purple Octopus.

I had forgotten about my paper dolls! There are two girls. One has yellow hair and is a princess. The other has dark hair and is a rock star. 

They have lots of clothes and while Meema was cutting out some more, I got to work making houses for them.

The princess's house is red and her bathroom is pink with a gold sink and a white toilet. the toilet paper holder is blue

Her kitchen has high shelves with cans of soup on them.

In the princess's living room is a big pink and gold couch. 

The rock star has a black house and most of her furniture is gray because those are the colors she likes. She does have some blue walls.

It was a good day. I ate some of the chocolate chip pumpkin bread we made on Monday, and I read a bunch of books. Meema was surprised that I could read the word PERSEVERANCE, but I told her it was another virtue, like PATIENCE. And I do know what it means--to keep on trying even if something is hard to do.

You are something else, says Meema.

And I did a little vacuuming.

 

The Best Day EVER!

                                                                              

Monday was an AMAZING day! At school we had a Christmas party with lots of cake and chips and some carrots. We had secret Santa presents and everyone got a bag of little presents. Also I made this LOVE sign for Meema. My teacher wrote the word and I put on the pink dots.

(A boy in my class was being bad and yelling and talking about peepee and saying bad words and he had to go to the principal's office, and he also had to sit with the police officer during lunch. The police officer is very nice and waves and helps people get in cars, but I would rather sit with my friends.)

And then, to make the day MORE awesome, we got out early because snow was coming. I was so full of cake, I didn't even ask to go get an ice cream cone. When we got to our driveway, there were packages waiting and two of them were for me, Josie!

The first one was from my Aunt Margaret who lives way up north where there is lots of snow. It is a picture of a beautiful fairy to hang on my wall.

The lady who painted it is a friend of Aunt Margaret's and she painted it for her daughter after her daughter had a dream about a fairy who looked like this.

Then there was a package from Sandy who is my Fairy Godmother. First, I opened the card . . .

                                                                                       

And it was a pop-up! Pop-ups are my favorites!

The present was Colorforms! There are a million different shapes in all colors, and you can make pictures on the black backgrounds. I got started making a castle!

I showed Meema all the stuff I got at school, and we read a book and did a bunch of other stuff. Then I decided to vacuum the rugs to calm down a little.

                                                                                       

Do you like my new gloves? I will need them because, guess what! It started snowing just when it was time for me to go home. 

Maybe there will be a Snow Day and no school tomorrow.

One of Pooh's Hums

The more it snows,

(Tiddley pom)

The more it goes,

(Tiddley pom)

                                                                The more it goes,

                                               (Tiddley pom)

On snowing.

                                                                                   

And no one knows,

(Tiddley pom)

How cold my toes.

(Tiddley pom)

How cold my toes.

(Tiddley pom)

Are growing.

A.A. Milne

 

After the Big Snow