"There is that time when Fall classes begin, and my students are talking with friends whom they did not see over the summer, but I am checking to see that the slide projector is working, passing out the syllabus, and lecturing about what will be expected in the class.

But soon, all around me new work emerges, and I am happy."

Griff reached for a handful of popcorn. "When we win our first game, I'll be happy, but at the moment, I do not anticipate wild cheering on the playing field of Huygens Tech."

In late August sun from the living room window, on her bare shoulders his substantial arm was warm. Caydance moved closer, kissed him. Not the gentle kiss of shared identity, but the kind of deep lingering passionate kiss that suggests that it is time to turn off the radio.

Griff turned off the radio.

"Later," he suggested, "we can go for a walk on the beach and then drive down the coast to Santa Cruz and have dinner on the wharf."