There was a song current in my mother’s youth, now complete with anachronisms, the first verse of which went “School days, school days, dear ol’ Golden Rule days; Reading and writing and ‘rithmetic, taught to the tune of a hickory stick; I was your maid in calico, you were my bashful, barefoot beau; And you wrote on my slate, ‘I love you so!’/When we were a couple of kids.” Of course, hickory sticks were replaced by paddles in my mother’s youth, and they were no longer using slates, but there was still some corporal punishment by teachers (now mostly and happily a thing of the past), and there is, was, and one hopes always will be youthful romances to tide us over until the long school day is through.
And though this is a song largely about those who are in school pre-university, this post is just by way of saying that I will in fact be away from posting at length for a few days, because I am going with my immediate family to visit my undergraduate alma mater. I hope to have lots to write about when I get back; if I don’t have much of anything to write about the trip itself, I will I hope have a renewed spirit to return to my literary posting with. Until then, have a great autumn!
creativeshadows 
I hope your journeys will bring you much interest, joy and stuff to talk about…I for one will be scuffing my shoes waiting for you to return.
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Thanks. I’m back now, and I had a great time, but things had really changed. I hardly know whether to write about what was, or what is now. And don’t scuff up your shoes, Ste J; one of those old-timey teachers might hunt you down and put you in the corner to think about your sins! He!He!
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Ah! the corner, the most humiliating of punishments. I think that however you choose to write about what was and is now, you will do it with your usual style and aplomb.
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Thanks. At least someone believes in me when I’m not in the corner thinking about my sins! Maybe even though I have committed a few!
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I don’t believe it!
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Sure you do! It’s logical! We all have sins!
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