It started raining around mid-night and continued for several hours. This is probably the start of afternoon and late evening rains, at least until the end of the County Fair. For most of my life, the rainy season has started the same day that the County Fair does. These events are so synchronized that when the fair starting date was moved to the first of August (to avoid conflict with the start of school), the rains changed their starting date also. This year, once again, the rain started last night and the fair starts tomorrow.
I cooked the first eggplant from the garden, and it was awful. I sliced it thin, sauteed it in olive oil, took one bite to test, then another to check my test, then threw the rest away. I probably should have peeled it since the skin was tough, but it also had the only flavor (bitter). The meat of the vegetable had the texture of squash and zero flavor. Still, I don't regret growing them. They are visually pleasing vegetables. Their color and form are outstanding.
Last night I decided to exert a little more influence during my times with Camron. Instead of following his lead (chasing ghosts, spy missions to save the world, flying children with superpowers) I am going to interject more relevant information. Out with time machine diagrams and lasers, and in with..., maybe the life cycle of frogs to begin with. I am an excellent teacher but a terrible example of being visibly successful in this place at this time, and I have to always be aware of that when I influence someone. Failure to direct students toward the established formal agenda and instead allowing the civilized or productive parts of their imaginations to dominate the classroom was my main talent and flaw when I taught for a living, (except when I worked with prisoners, who for the most part can only imagine morbid or malicious situations, and left to their own devices, will drag any group to its lowest possible level). I maintained a student directed classroom because I felt that they actually learned more of more worthwhile information when the inquiries came from within them. This led to lots of questions and answers, but not often the postulates and theorems that the school administration said they were supposed to be memorizing. In the end, my students loved me, and years later, many still often call. On the other hand, my supervisors felt I was the Anti-Teacher, and never call.