No one will ever say my college lacks a sense of humor.

Football season has arrived, as noted by the debris left everywhere after a game. Usually it’s rotting food in the parking lot, today it was cut zip ties from the parking signs.

After just more than four years of service, my beautiful iMac ate it’s graphics card. Arghh. Off to the repair shop as it’s way cheaper than replacing the whole computer.

This is the saddest display of rhubarb I have ever seen.

When I moved south a decade ago, the plan was to only be here for a year. After learning how to teach, I’d head back north to my family and friends, fall back into my routines of rallying and hanging out with car people.

It didn’t happen. I fell in love with my job, the quality of the kids is astounding and I ended up building a new life here. But … there’s always a but … but the car side of my brain, the side that likes busting knuckles and talking about roads, that side got the short end of the deal. I’ve made many friends, gone on new adventures, but never really found the car guys and gals that I had up north.

Maybe, now, I have … once a month a bunch of motor heads gather on a Saturday morning to have coffee and talk about cars. There’s some minor wrenching, but it’s mostly social.

No rallying, but this is, at last, a start.

The relentless toll of knowledge is starting to wear down some of the kids.

We can tell when the first game of the season is approaching by the sudden appearances of a-frames and beams used to build barriers to the parking lots, dropped here and there with little concern for where they land.