about three miles a night, i'm wearing out my shoes, and my feet a little, but i'm getting in slightly better shape, and i sleep like a log, what i sleep. there's not a huge pile of stars out there, but orion's out there, and quite a few more, and the air is dry and fresh and the traffic is beginning to die down a little on the busy street. one jeep was pulled over, parked there, this is quite common, and it appeared empty but an aroma was wafting from it as if someone was tucked in the back smoking something. now that it's legal in two states maybe the picture is changing a bit, maybe texas will stop throwing people in prison for life for this kind of thing. further along, someone had left their lights on in a small truck; i tried to open it, but they'd locked it also. their loss, nothing like a jump on a cool night.

just gave my final today, a ten-page whopper which caused one poor woman to say, "i surrender!" i gave up and merely watched them for a couple of hours; by now i know their names, and some were there that i hadn't seen much. thirty nine out of forty in the class actually took the final; i didn't get much else done all day except collect this enormous stack. i won't be teaching american students forever, in fact, next semester may be my last time, except that i have a steady stream of them in the writing lab, and i'm enjoying that. i write myself prolifically now on a number of blogs and come back here mostly for pure rambles, my inner mind, the thoughts rolling around as i come in off the street from my walk, "log on" to the fireplace, sit down and pull out the computer, and "log on" to that too. it's friday night; the world out there is just getting started; we, exhausted, have all pretty much gone down except for me.

and the kitties. one who was skittish for months now lets me pet him occasionally; they watch me warily waiting for me to go to bed, as that's when their fun starts. all day they check out any faint movement of pillows, furniture, laundry, whatever; these are the places they'll settle in and see how the sun comes through some window. at night the sun is no longer an issue and they concentrate on faint noises presumably coming from mice or animals just outside the windows. or, from each other. they wait, bait, pounce, tear around, thinking, it's midnight, time to cut loose.

the ambulances and traffic have died down a little; the traffic is due to die down quite a bit. thirty to forty thousand people due to leave town, more or less, though some live here anyway or choose not to leave. they go home and tell relatives, no doubt, about the wild campus life they're living; i can only imagine. how does it compare? i'm not sure. a couple of young folks were involved in a horrific accident just this week; at least one student was involved, and so was alcohol, and this is probably not unheard of. is texas worse, better or about the same as the others? it's hard to say. there are more trucks here. guess that doesn't say a thing, though.