Fall is in the air--I saw a perfectly formed, red maple leaf on the ground. We're still harvesting--my peppers are still producing, and some nearby fields have winter squashes and cabbage and even melon! The first frost is not for several weeks most likely, and my CSA goes through October, I believe--at any rate, several weeks longer than the CSAs in MN do. A nice benefit! Hardy greens especially, get only sweeter after a frost.

My classes are going well. I love the weeds course I am assisting with. It's so fun to sit back and absorb the material, without having to be tested on it. The test is every class, if the students have any questions. The prof is so enthusiastic, he seems hopped up on caffeine. He just loves the class.

The benefit to school, that should be inherent in any job, is the mental stimulation. I loved my job the first few years, when it was a challenge. I was figuring out the ins-and-outs, learning Spanish, and figuring out how to best counsel people. After that, it was miserable because it was so boring. But new challenges would have made all the difference. I could have done it for many more years with any sort of challenge added to it. So, you don't have to go back to school to get that stimulation. You just have to find a way to get it from your job. It was also fun to take community ed courses at night, and learn things completely different from what I needed for work.