September is such a back-to-school kind of month, and I love that we’re never too old to learn.

There will be no John C. Campbell Folk School for me this year, but I’m determined to get back there. I absolutely loved it. Click here for their website. For now I’m staying local, and I have signed up for a slew of Osher classes for this fall semester: six weeks of photography, six weeks of watercolor, thirteen weeks of poetry classes, three weeks on food and culture, as well as my ongoing weekly French lessons. Plus there are occasional poetry or other writing workshops online that I take, so I’m staying busy. A few overlap, but some start as others finish, so I’m hoping it’s all manageable. Guess we’ll see! Either way I’m raring to go and most are on Zoom, so no annoying traffic!

The only class that has already started is a poetry class with Veronica Patterson. Sweetgrass was mentioned in one of the poems, which immediately had me thinking of our time in Charleston and on Folly Beach, during our year of adventure, both the perfection of the sweetgrass baskets and the beauty of nature we saw every day on our beach walks.

I’m also remembering all the road trips with Pascale and Jacky and how Pascale always had planned everything so perfectly and had all the guidebooks with all the information. Jacky drove us tirelessly–with David in 2013, many times in 2014, and even 2017 during his last trip to France.

I don’t even know where to begin to add links for those, so either check out the France category or you could start by clicking the dates above. But their generosity didn’t end there. When I came for the first time on my own, in 2019, we took an extended trip to Bretagne and to several other places I haven’t even told you about yet. Everywhere we went, Pascale was either fully informed or had the guidebook open teaching us as she learned. I love spending so much time with people who stay curious. 

Makes me think also of Beckett and all he’s learning these days. He’s counting and singing and learning new words. A few weeks ago, I was babysitting, and at the time specified by his parents, tried to get him into bed. He was having none of it. Instead he squirmed away, giggling, but insisting, “I read! I read! I read! I read!” while grabbing more books. This was after nearly an hour in which we had already been reading. That kid is after my own heart.

Reminds me of one of my favorite photos of David with Bailey and Felicity just over ten years ago.

Nothing more cozy than reading together with children.

Here’s wishing you never-ending curiosity, many opportunities to learn new things, and the great good fortune to occasionally settle in a comfy chair and read to a child.