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Last day of Summer, or first day of Autumn ? Either way, it was so nice this morning. We had a little frost the other night, but at 7am today, it was 21degrees Celsius, and it was wet. Not raining hard, but damp. Raindrops were appearing on my windshield and there were a few puddles on the ground, but even those few drops stopped as soon as I got on my way. I had to turn the defroster on, in the bus, just to clear the steam from the windows. But I had my window open, to get some fresh air and not the dusty smell of a bus heater. My first pick up for the Elementary kids is at 8:06. I like to get there early, or rather, I like to get to a place where I can stop, early. I found a place not far from that first pick up where I can wait to start. You never know what traffic and conditions are going to be like. Or road closures ,for that matter. But, I’m half an hour out of town, on a hill with a great panoramic view, when I stop to have a cigarette in the morning. The air this morning , in the damp, smelled incredibly sharp and sweet. This close to harvest time every thing smells wonderful. The sun was hidden behind those blue grey skies and the morning mist, so the view looked like a watercolour. Trees on the horizon blending in to the sky, and a lazy haze still not lifted from the valleys. Just beautiful ! Every so often the sky would change just a little as the sun tried to poke through. But without the glare of the sun, each blade of grass was in focus, each leaf clearly defined, until they all blended into one colour in the horizon. Absolutely magical ! With the damp air, it seemed like I could smell each separate blade of grass, each leaf, each flower. I grew up in Scotland, and there is no pleasure , no experience, no thrill or memory that wasn’t accompanied by dampness. The smell of the long grass when you lay with a girl and smiled at each other at the thought of your shared secrets. The smell of her hair, the smell of her warm neck. Nothing brings back a memory so strongly or clearly or so sharply defined as a fragrance carried on damp air. Should you ever wish to build a time machine, you don’t need fibre optics or quantum physics. You can see all you need beside your feet. Those threads of silver dew on a wet blade of grass. Ask any Grade 1, and they’ll tell you. There are no magic deserts ! If you want REAL magic, you need an enchanted forest, or an enchanted Glade. Nothing else will do. The magic is in the mist ! Every smell this morning , a different memory ,a different age. The smell of wild raspberries and I’m seven, and we’re coming back from the beach when we smell them. Wet towels over our shoulders, sand in our shoes, fighting our way through the gorse to get to those brambles. Egg salad sandwiches and I’m eight, and it’s raining. There’s always sand in the egg salad, and the tea tastes funny from a thermos, and the car heater is on, and it’s making me feel a little sick as we wait for the rain to stop so we can go back to the beach and go swimming again. But I had to concentrate on what I was doing, and I have to pay attention when I’m driving, but when my littlest ones got on the bus this morning, I got to tell them what I was dreaming about !
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You will share your body when you give permission. Others need to ask if they can touch you. And if you say no, then no means no. Hugs are good as long as they are not too tight or too long. Its a great way of reverse teaching because you can make it sweet and funny. Obviously its good to teach the young ones that they can control who touches them. The speech doesn't work that great when you're in second grade and getting beat up by the school bully but its worth a shot; then duck!
