The big event today was school buses. A lot of school buses. A heat factor of over 100 degrees and the start of school. The merging of seasons. Kids thinking I was free last week. The drummer’s tympanic beat changed. From the Caribbean sound of summer to the timpani of order and revelry. A rhythm that requires adjustment.

The Old Man hears Christmas music. It happens from time to time around Brooks Pond. The source of the music is unknown, Mr. Beaver told the Old Man. It is said that a little child lived near the Pond a long time ago, and he loved to listen to Christmas songs. Nicholas often would play Christmas hymns on the first day of school. The songs made Nicholas feel at home in a strange land. He loved The Little Drummer Boy. Nicholas had a snare drum that he played daily. He had the brushes that gave it a soft sound. Nicholas was playing his drum on his way to school when he saw a bad man. Nicholas beat his drum loudly with a staccato syncopation and frightened the bad man, who the Custodian jumped on, and the police took away. There is a statue of Nicholas at the school holding his drum and his Maltese dog at his side.