Apples and the Teacher

LOS RANCHOS--MaryAnn has been stressed out all week over the corporate-style arrogance of APS. Maybe she actually would say she is stressed out about work. I would say it is the nature of APS to not communicate with their employees, to hold teachers accountable but not the people in charge of the whole system, to confuse numbers with reality, to think 13 years of standardized testing will result in a better education, and to generally proceed as if humanity (both employees and students) could be understood individually by looking at a score.

At any rate, I thought we needed to relax...and what better place than in the patio of El Pinto on North Fourth St. Of course the food was great. And yes the waiter was so friendly in a respectful sort of way. But the big story here is that wonderful patio.

We sat under the territorial portal. There were brick floors, plants everywhere...including an apple tree that kept dropping big apples all night. And there were tiny white lights. The sun went down. It was as if it were the background for a fabulously beautiful woman, a real, North Valley Mona Lisa. And there she was sitting at the same table: MaryAnn. How wonderful she looked. I am so glad we went there.