Knock on Wood

Well, all four new kids did well today.  In fact, the whole class did very well (hence the title).  Aside from the usual disruptions from Bulldozer (one medium sized and one very minor one), the class was very responsive and interactive.  We even had discussions.

Multiple ones.

Which was good, because one of the new people hired didn't show this morning.  (Turns out her paperwork isn't completely processed, but I guess the office didn't know that.)  So, independent, well-mannered workers was a plus.

Meanwhile, and totally unrelated except that I was on a Loreena McKennitt kick while getting my classroom ready, I have realized that somehow -- despite being quite a fan of European history -- I missed the extent to which the Vikings were involved in British history.

The notion was sparked while reading Stephen Baxter's Time's Tapestry series (awesome books, btw).

Ironically, very soon thereafter, I something clicked while listening to Loreena McKennitt's "Bonny Portmore" (which is on an earlier album -- The Visit, I think).  As she says in Nights From the Alhambra, the song is a lament about the fact that a beautiful tree has been cut down.

"For it stood on your shores for many's the long day
Till the longboats from Antrim came to float it away."

Yeah, somehow I missed the reference to "longboats" every one of the hundreds of times I've listened to the song.  D'oh.