Full moon Friday

Friday, Friday! I'm so ready for it. This has been the longest week I can remember since school started. The students are burned out and getting restless. I'm burned out and need a break. People who aren't teachers may not undestand how the full-time intensity of the job can run you down, over time.

An overnight wind this week blew all the leaves off the trees. Just like that. One day they're bright and full, the next day, the branches are bare. Except for the lemon tree, of course, which doesn't lose leaves. The ground is now covered with crackly leaves, and the surface of the fish pond is decorated with their colors. Last night, Paul told me to step out and look at the full moon because it was brighter than he'd ever seen it. It was a gorgeous lemon-yellow circle, lighting up the night as though it was day. I remember a lengthy, memorable scene from one D.H. Lawrence novel in which the entire village goes into the fields one autumn night and harvests all the crops by moonlight. Tonight, the moon is supposed to be even brighter.

Liberto has doctor appointments three days next week, on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. One is for a nerve test, another is to see a chiropractor, and the third is for a spinal MRI. I hope we can get to the bottom of the problem soon.

We are a tired old couple! It's only 5:50, and he's falling asleep in the chair. He said he didn't sleep well last night, which, unfortunately, is the norm, even when he's not burdened by health issues. He just doesn't sleep well, never has. I sleep extremely well every night, but once or twice in the last 60 years, I've had the experience of feeling as though I hadn't slept for the entire night. It's awful! Once, when I told him one morning that I hadn't slept all night, or felt as though as I hadn't, he replied, "Welcome to my world!" My sister is also a non-sleeper. Is she chronically depressed because she can't sleep, or can she not sleep because is chronically depressed? But L. is not depressed. Maybe my sister's sleep issue is merely coincidental.

Paul just invited me outside to observe tonight's full moon. It's glorious! Maybe this explains why the dog is acting crazy and hyper, dancing around the house, clip-clopping behind me, barking. But it hasn't affected the cat, who is snoozing on the couch beside me. Sounds like a good idea.