My ninth-grade son had a test on Great Expectations yesterday and came home in a good mood, saying, of all things, "I liked that test." Naturally I was all ears. It turns out that this was his first experience with the short-essay style of assessment, in which the teacher asks four questions and the student chooses two to answer in a paragraph or two.

As anyone does, my son liked having a choice about what questions to answer. But he said that he also liked the short essays because they gave him time to think out his answer. I pass on this information because this particular son is a reasonably good student but not an English whiz by any means. So I'm especially interested in his reaction to the test style. It occurs to me that maybe even regular kids actually appreciate an opportunity to think through writing. Of course, conversely, my son could be a wacko.

Pamuk novel weather update: Still snowing.

Quote of the day, by Anatole France: "I do not know any reading more easy, more fascinating, more delightful, than a catalogue."

Autobiographical note: My family yells at me because I throw out all the catalogs as soon as they arrive.

Dinner tonight (tentative early-morning plan): chicken curry, couscous, kale from the greenhouse, mixed salad greens from the greenhouse, blueberry cake. (Have you noticed the repetition of "greenhouse" in this menu? Have you noticed that it's December in central Maine and that I have yet to buy lettuce from the grocery store? Can you tell that this is my first year with a greenhouse? What a novelty! I can even grow weeds off season!)