October Bundle 2021

Hello AAPA Folks,

We finally got this big bundle stuffed and mailed. There is a lot to look forward to, including the much-awaited Ink Cahoots. I'm sorry for the delay, but it's been a busy month in the garden, a busy month in the schoolroom, and my husband (a commercial fisherman) has been gone for big chunks of the month, sending me into single-parent mode where I make rice for dinner every night, unless we're having crackers! 

The Indefatigable Ivan D. was my stalwart assistant once again, for the penultimate bundle stuffing in my dining room. When I was in my last year of college (I went back when I was 26, so maybe I was 28 or 29) my Shakespeare teacher told me an interesting story about that word "penultimate." She had grown up on a ranch in Montana, had gone away to many years of college, and knew she "couldn't go home again" when she accidently used that word in casual conversation with her ranching family. It means second to last, or next to last. I never use it, because it has more syllables that "next to last," so I can't imagine it slipping into a casual conversation, but it came to mind as we stuffed the bundle, with its accompanying fond memories of my professor. She once accepted an excuse for a late paper written in sonnet form, without marking me down. I had reasons: I was working almost full time and going to school more than full time, slept from about 3 am to 7 am and then ran to my first class. The lesson is: if you have to make up an excuse for something, make it interesting! I'd like to write you a sonnet about this late bundle, but I can't remember the rules. 

Thanks once again, Ivan!