Read.

Today was an odd sort of day off. I know it sounds odd, but the air felt clunky, even as I was driving to work. Passing Otay Ranch HS, I remember thinking about the wild fires of 2007, and the way things were cancelled because we had better things to do (stay alive, namely).

Black helicopters circled overhead, and I have never seen so many police cars in one place. People craned their necks to see what was going on, but didn't stop, and it wasn't obvious just from looking, so we kept going.

When I arrived at school, there were police cars there too, and Ray standing at the corner by the stoplight saying, "School's cancelled."

The threat level was lifted within half an hour, but they had to make the call quickly. There had been a "smash and grab" at the mall up the road, and from 7-8, the burglars were armed and somewhere nearby.

It was the right call, I think, even though things turned out to be secure before school was scheduled to start. But why gamble on something like that? No matter how important our exhibition is this Thursday, there are things that are more.

So instead, I came home, feeling a little guilty to be so happy about having the day off. I got over that, relatively, and I read all afternoon. I sat on my porch, and the sun shone down on me happily, and I read.

I finished the book, I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith, and I really liked it. I read it on the GoodReads recommendation from Heather. She recently posted a review of it, and it sounded intriguing, and I happened to have purchased a copy of it for my classroom library.

This is one of my favorite quotations from the book, and it reminds me of Jaymie:

"I finish this entry sitting on the stairs. I think it worthy of note that I never felt happier in my life--despite sorrow for father, pity for Rose, embarrasssment about Stephen's poetry and no justification for hope as regards our family's general outlook. Perhaps it is because I have satisfied by creative urge; or it may be due to the thought of eggs for tea."