driving us to lunacy
So in this hard school I go to, we do things like read picture books and play with oobleck*... and then write like ten page papers on the activities. One of our tasks for the semester, this one for Elementary Science Methods, is to observe the moon at the same time every night and keep a record of its progress and changing form. Unhappily, after about three nights of good observation at the beginning of the term the moon pulled a fast one on us and started appearing exclusively during the day, so we were all out of luck. It was a topic of conversation before all our classes, I can assure you: like a regular bunch of astronomers we sounded. Primitive astronomers, at least. Incompetant primitive astronomers. Good thing we're only going to be teaching elementary school!
In any case, the moon has now made its return to the night sky, and our observations are now hindered only by persistent cloud cover. Mine will also be hindered by going away for the weekend, to a wedding in Minnesota. I've never been to Minnesota before, and I associate it with only one thing: the notable and, to my ears, delightful accent of its people. We'll see if they really talk like that in Saint Paul, where we'll be visiting.
*For those readers whose mothers are not preschool teachers, oobleck is a substance made famous by the Dr. Suess story Bartholomew and the Oobleck, which can be created by mixing cornstarch and water. Try it: you'll find it has curious properties indeed!