On rainy days like today the campus is a sea of umbrellas and colorful rubber rainboots. The girls wear them with jeans, sweats, skirts, and shorts. Nothing is off limits with a pair of rain boots. What I want to know is, am I too old for these?

What is Historiography

A few semesters ago I took a world history class at the community college. Our first assignment was to write a historiographical paper about an event in history and how it relates to something in our life. Unfortunately, I didn't know what historiography meant and had no idea how to apply it to my own life. I got a big fat "C" on the paper, even after a re-write that didn't impress her at all.

A couple of years down the road now and I am taking Intro to Historiography at what Caz and Student Mum call "Uni". I'm learning terms like historicism, historical awareness, periodization, antiquarian, and social memory. The list goes on. This week we are reading about the different subjects historians study, such as political history and economic history. And, finally, historiography. Simply put, it is the study of how history is written. It is how historians do their work. So now I know what it means, but I can still barely spell it. Hopefully this deficit will not hold me back.

One thing I appreciate about the History department is the varied age group of the students. I was the only non-trad in the Spanish department, but I can always count on a few people who are my age or older being in my history classes. It's a nice break from being the oddball in class.

I'm not very hopeful about the Ecuador trip. My husband doesn't think he can do without me for four weeks. I guess I should be happy about that, right?

Well, I don't know what happened to summer but it is gone, gone, gone. I'm afraid to look at my summer to-do list for fear that I will be disappointed in myself. Maybe later.

As for school, my impressions so far are that I will not care for the Children's Literature class; my Ozarks history class is going to be a lot of fun; and my historiography class is going to be my most difficult undertaking to date.

Quite frankly, I have a hard time even spelling the word "historiography" and I'm still not sure what it means. I was hoping the professor would tell us what it means, but after one evening, I have decided he is not going to tell us much of anything. We are going to tell HIM. Turns out we have to speak in this class or we fail 20% of our grade. Yikes. I usually sit on the back row and don't speak unless spoken to. Now I'm going to have to find my voice. Finally.

For Ozarks history, in addition to two book reviews that I could live quite well without, we will be keeping a journal about how the people of the Ozarks are represented in film, print, and in the media. Also, we have to take a road trip through several sub-regions of the Ozarks and record our impressions of the land, people, cities and towns, etc. I'm very excited about this project.

The Children's Lit. class has as interesting book list and I enjoy reading children's books, but I'm just not a literature person. Right now we are looking at how to determine who is the "implied reader" for children's books. Not my cup of tea, but no doubt I can learn a few things from this class nonetheless.

All things considered, I expect this to be my most interesting and intense semester so far!

I have no idea where my school journey is going to take me. I started school to get an education, not to learn a trade. This leaves me in a bit of a quandary when people ask what I plan to do when I graduate, because I don't have an answer. At least, not an answer that most people would find satisfactory. I could go to grad school, but that still leaves the question open as to what my intentions are after yet another graduation. Why doesn't anyone seem to understand the value of an education unless it is immediately going to produce a lucrative career upon completion? The education itself is the goal, the end result, the reason I go to school. I don't have to know where it will ultimately take me.

Right now I am hoping it will take me to Ecuador next year. The Spanish department takes a group of students on a four-week trip each spring. This year they went to Spain, next year is Ecuador. Students stay with a host family and go to school each day, with three weekend outings planned. I'm dreaming of ruins and food and foreign adventures! I'm constantly thinking about how I can make this happen. It means my husband will be on his own for four weeks, which will not make him happy. It means I will be unemployed for a month and probably in search of a new job when I return. It means I need to save now for the expenses of the trip and I will need to have at least a month, or more, of expense money saved to cover my period of unemployment. Oh, and I also have to be accepted into the program. That part is actually the least of my worries. I have the prerequisites as far as the grades and the classes, I just need to apply before the group is filled. In fact, I think I'm going to need to apply as soon as the fall semester begins, even though the trip isn't until next May. I'm trying not to get too excited, just in case I don't get to go. But if you really want something, why not do try to imagine all possibilities that could make it happen? Just like going back to school as a non-trad. Make it happen.

It is way too hot to go outside these days. "Lost" is over and "House" is repeats, so here I sit with no motivation to do anything except be lazy and indecisive and eat chocolate ice cream. I registered for the fall semester over two months ago, but part of it was tentative. The two certainties are Intro to Historiography and The Ozarks in American History. I also signed up for Hispanic Cinema, not because I wanted to but because I thought it would not be in my best interest to have a semester with no Spanish. I was hoping I could muster some interest in this class, but so far I have been unsuccessful. So, today I registered at the community college (from which I graduated last year) for an English class on Children's Literature. Now, I'm not all that interested in this subject either, but I have to take something. If I'm going to graduate next year I have to take at least three classes each semester and my choices are limited. All the classes I take from now on need to be upper level classes. Also, I need one more class to complete my fine arts requirement and the literature class will take care of that, but the cinema class will not. I do enjoy children's books and I look forward to once again experiencing the convenience of an online class. Although this is not my top choice for study, I feel confident that it will nonetheless be a worthwhile learning endeavor. At least, that's what I am telling myself.

As for my summer to-do list, I don't think I've made much progress. I have watched a few movies and read a couple of books. I've done some work in the yard and cleaned house. I haven't disciplined myself enough to keep up with Spanish like I should. But I have done a few fun things, just because I could. I'm enjoying my time off this summer, but I'm also looking forward to the beginning of a new semester this fall and all the new adventures it will bring. Someone please remind me of this when I start complaining about school this fall.

I just finished reading For All the Tea in China, How England Stole the World's Favorite Drink and Changed History. Good book, both entertaining and educational.

Just a few things I've noticed since school let out for the summer:

• blue skies
• clouds
• wind
• trees-green trees, pink trees, white trees, just so many trees everywhere
• the sound of the wind in the trees
• gray hairs
• my husband
• books
• my weight - uh oh
• my house - yikes, what a mess!

I can't describe the astonishment and joy I feel while noticing the world around me. Have the skies always been so blue and the trees so green? I don't remember. School has been my world and everything else has been crowded out. It is such a luxury to actually see things. I want to soak in every minute I can and enjoy every experience I can before school starts in the fall. And once I'm back in the daily grind of homework and papers and tests, I want to remember how to see, even when I don't have much time to look.