Allophile

Cha-yu--libertad, liberté: summer!

...another school-year has come to its end here in Tucson. Today was my last day 'with kids;' tomorrow there's the turning in of grades, classroom-tidying-up, etc...There will be some committee-work this summer, but without students. So: freedom!

One of my summer-goals is to dive back into my study of Korean, which got put on the backburner this past school-year, since I had other teacher-certification courses to work on while teaching full-time. My linguistic frustration in Korean is that for years now I've been on a 'plateau'--the ability to have 'real conversations' remains elusive, whereas random vocabulary words will pop into my head unbidden. Thus, 'cha-yu.'

Vive les vacances!
I've been teaching high-school for the better part of a decade, now, and I've never 'needed' summer more than this year. I'll like my job (kids) again, come August...

Earlier this month, my mother came for a visit--a 'business-trip,' this time, since she ended up buying a house. With it being a buyer's market right now, and since she plans to retire here in a couple of years, this plan seemed to make sense: Mother buys house, then son and daughter-in-law paint and 'take care' of it (aka rent) until Mom finally moves Out West. (Also, this means--gasp--we're putting down ROOTS here in Tucson...)

So--another summer of moving. June will be populated by paintbrushes, dropcloths, and cardboard boxes in a U-haul. Logistically logical, this moving-plan...but bittersweet: adios to having Sabino Canyon as 'our backyard.' Alas...

The new place does have many perks--more space, a neighborhood salt-water pool, and a walled backyard where we'll be able to grow vegetables! (Here, where we've spent the past year, squirrels and javelinas have eaten everything on our patio--except for geraniums and rosemary.) And for morning runs, there is a dry-riverbed nearby--really, it's prettier than it sounds...And Sabino Canyon will only be a ten-minute drive away... 

So, before we move, I'm trying to enjoy our mountain backyard daily. Yesterday afternoon, after work, I biked into the canyon with my camera...
Plenty of water, still, in the canyon--some evening reflections:

...evening light--fun to 'see in color' and 'in b&w.' 
 No more papers to grade tonight, so time to play in the digital darkroom...

...and while doing this,
I remembered a photo from when we were in Antigua, Guatemala, four (already!) years ago:

(Original color, sepia, b&w, negative: Hokusai's numerous views of Mt. Fuji inspire me...

The Volcán de Agua and the colorful architecture

of Antigua loom ever-present in my mind...)

...and now, as the 100-degree reality of Tucson's summer edges closer,

 a bit of Washington-dreaming,

with a volcano of the glaciated sort: