Got out of town!

We spent the morning along the Richmond shoreline, picking up trash along with many others, including four students from my school.

We worked along the edge of the marsh, where the garbage was dense and tiny--hundreds of small pieces of styrofoam and plastic, tiny ziplock bags that I think fishhooks might come in, plus lots of the usual straws, plastic bottle caps, cigarette filters, and plastic bags (especially the kind chips come in).



The tide came up quickly and as we watched a young woman found herself suddenly nearly to her knees in the mud. She was wearing waders, and even with lots of help, could not get one foot out without abandoning the wader. My students and I had just been joking around about one of them getting lost in the quicksand.

After a productive (albeit somewhat depressing) session on the beach, we enjoyed a free lunch at the park for all the clean-up volunteers.



Next, we drove to central Marin County and visited my friend Jenny. She and I are getting together weekly to spend time together writing. It is nice to have dedicated work time and someone else also doing the same thing. Justin enjoyed a nap and some reading at that time.

After a quick stop at a grocery store, we headed to Muir Beach. There we enjoyed a beach fire and shared meal and bbq with folks from my work. Good people, beautiful location.

A lovely full but not stressful day. Feeling refreshed, though I have plenty of work to do tomorrow.

Thanks to all those who've called or emailed to express their sympathy/support about my work situation. Just so you know, I had a better day on Friday. I was able to maintain my own perspective (plus a couple of students were absent, and that helped re-set the tone). Hopefully we'll keep moving in a positive direction from here.