Hitting the books.........

I am back at work. Time to hit the....

 No more whiling away my time doing something like this..

Or.....

 spending my mornings making these 

 big round cakes for birthdays and such.......

Or even little ones like .....

Instead I have 90+ students waiting to hear about...

 how I spent a day in Oxford, Mississippi, home of William Faulkner....and how I had a word (or two) with him while he sat stone silent.

 Then climbed the stairs to his special section in one of the Oxford bookstores.

 And I also browsed through (and bought one or two) of the books by his friends while I was at it....

 Then as my students sit mesmerized by my tales of the day in Oxford, I will explain how I went by Faulkner's house....

 before I left town and couldn't help myself....

 I just had to knock on William's front door to see if anyone would answer. (They didn't). 

 Oh and while I have my students spellbound with my tales of the day with literary giants (ghosts), I can't forget to tell them that I heard Walt Whitman speak on the steps of an old church in Oxford.

 Or about finding this old guy (he was watching a parade that was also in Oxford).  I wasn't sure if this sweetie was (another) Walt, or Billy (William Faulkner), or even Sam (Mark Twain).....maybe even Al (Albert Einstein). But it was clear he recognized me.  (See how he responded when I asked if I could take his picture?!) 

Truly, his eyes were sparkling as he said, "Whadya want my picture for girly????"
That sounded poetic to me! He had to be one of my famous authors!!!!!



And I could not leave Oxford without visiting one other author that I (and of course therefore my students (hahahhahahaha)
love.   Oxford is also the home of....

 the one and only John Grisham. 

My students read two of his books. By the time I get to this part of my story, I will be prying the students from their desk. 

NO!!!!! It won't have anything to do with the fact they have fallen asleep and are snoring...... They will just be transfixed with eagerness to delve once again into some of my favorite literature.

I highly doubt they will be wishing I would have taken the wrong turn as I left Oxford and 

never made it back to class......... Oh and one last thing I have to share with the classes.  I am pretty sure I found Emily Grierson's house (A Rose For Emily by William Faulkner).  

Now that IS one story the students remember and cling to. I might just grab their attention if I open with this info. That story is a must-read.  Put it on your Fall Reading List!

Like I said at the beginning. It is school time again and we're hitting the 

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  (almost all images were from  my trip to Oxford, Mississippi, this summer)