two big days came and went, along with the stunning weather that is so common in mid-october wherever you are. here, mid-october is as good as anywhere, and i looked out at the backside of downtown cloudcroft, and saw the colors. the colors, and the wood in a pile, and an old truck, and somebody's motor home. this is my usual view. above that, more colors, and the white sands, and the mountains beyond. but in the foreground, the colors.

first one, halfway point for the haiku. since april 16th is haiku day, it's my target for publishing. this would mean that i'd need 500 by october 16th. october 16th came by and i had 390, a little short. but i did get into production mode, making the requisite four (some days, eight, or maybe ten), and i've managed to keep up that part of the bargain.

i sit in middle school classes, and watch torture. it's torture in the sense that young kids can hardly take sitting in a chair hearing about english topics, even five minutes, let alone forty, or eighty. no way. they're struggling. they're spitting spitballs, getting up to go to the bathroom. and i'm sitting back there, thinking haiku. can't help it. maybe i should be walking around, leaning on the weak ones, but i don't. i think haiku.

i have an idea for a book. take all three or four thousand of them, and put them together. it would take some work. it would be a volume of haiku. it would also be a novel. it's out there.

problem is, i might have a real job any time soon. this would make me very busy. might not have the mental freedom for haiku. on the other hand, i might need escapism more than ever.

and so it goes. october 15, schoolbus day, a personal holiday. my pledge to kids, to be true, to be there for them. my first law at work - don't hurt them - i'm ok with that, that's easy. actually hanging in there with all the crazy stuff they do, that's a different story. i'm more mature, though, than i used to be. i can do it.