Max and Tab

A few years back, after I found out how much Dad liked the photo albums I could make on my Mac, we scanned a bunch of old photos from when we were kids.  The new streamlined album was much easier to carry than the old bulky albums, and it even made the trip to Chile.  I powered up the old Mac the other day to get those pictures off of it, and I came across this one, which I hadn't remembered seeing in the book.

A few things cross my mind here.  Dad seems tired, but it still looks like he pushed aside whatever he was reading to help me with Max and Tab.  He still had that belt in his closet when I went through it a few weeks ago.  And those glasses.  That couch was as hideous when it was new as it was when it was old.  I'm thankful to Mom for taking photos like these because after their divorce, the pictures of us with Dad are few and far between.  (Dad liked to be behind the camera, not in front of it.)

Mostly, though, since he's teaching me to read, I can't help thinking:
This looks like a man who has no idea what he is starting.

These books, plus a few thousand pages of criticism, are what I'll be covering this semester:

A few of the books are missing, but you get the idea.  This is a lot of reading-- all to be accomplished in 15 weeks.  I believe people must think I'm a fast reader, but I'm not.  At all.  With most of these books, I average about 30-40 pages per hour.  I read much, much too carefully to read fast.  One of my professors used to give me a hard time about it, actually.  She said that if what everyone else was doing could be called "close reading," what I'm doing should be called "microscopic reading."

I can tell I'm not reading as well this semester as I have in the past-- when it comes to class discussion, I have a hard time remembering exactly what happened or what was explained in the text.  I'm still plugging along, though, hoping that it will come back.  I believe it will.  I know I had a good teacher.

In the meantime, though, it's Monday, which is a read-from-home day.  So back to reading with my little one I go.