Countdown

I'm writing this during the 10-minute break in the middle of my evening class, my first opportunity to sit still and breathe all day long. What can I say in 10 minutes--or slightly less?

I can say that it's too hot to think straight, that every child over the age of four ought to know better than to play the drums in a house full of sleeping people at midnight, and that quinoa makes a terrific cold salad, particularly if you have some cilantro and lemon juice to add to the crunchy bits.

I can say that I'm enjoying my class tonight but that I'm really looking forward to next week, when we begin Invisible Man.

I can say that while it may be reassuring to be told that my van can be expected to run for another hundred thousand miles, it's not necessarily what I wanted to hear. Isn't 185,000 enough? I'll never get to buy a new car if the old one won't wear out!

I can say that if I don't hit "publish" and run down the steps, the class will think I've gotten lost somewhere--which is more or less the truth.

That's about all I can say.