Back to School Time

It’s thattime of year.

The promiseof some nippy mornings just around the corner. The excitement of newbeginnings. And, especially, the ritual of back to school shopping.

Newclothes.  Fresh sneakers.  And paper goods.  Lots and lots of paper goods.

That wasalways the best for me. The paper goods. New notebooks.  Three ringbinders.  Colored tabs for all yourclasses….English, math, science, home economics. A package of colored paper,too.

Then therewere the writing implements.  Prettypens.  Pencils.  Yellow, number 2….a dozen or more.  We had a (manual, of course) pencil sharpenerbolted on the door to the basement.  Iloved it when it got all jammed up with shavings and could be emptied.  So simple and so satisfying.

Back toSchool shopping is a rite of passage. Plus, everything always smells so good. Fresh, new, fun. 

Then, a man with an AK 47 walks in and shatters my reverie….

Moving from my computer to my television, just this very minute, I learn with enormous shock and grief, that there’s yet another shooting - in our hometown of Dayton, Ohio.   In the historic district.  Right around the corner from our old beloved brownstone.

Talk about today’sreality and future shock…