New Year catch-up

This is a long overdue up-date.
I continue to publish short pieces that go largely unread. A Peculiar Child's Verses of Garden is a tongue-in-cheek collection of garden rhymes. The publisher omitted the "s" on Verses on the cover, thereby ruining the humor of the title. The first page printed the title correctly, so one out of two required Ss was correct. One might say that the book was "half S'ed." My consulting at the high school is going well, particularly with a counseling group I run for teens to teach methods for coping with anxiety. About a dozen kids attend religiously, 80% female, and unload their feelings about parents, relationships, and school. They would prefer that I not structure the meetings but that won't happen. Their histories with abuse, dysfunctional families, parents in jail, as well as their unbridled anger is daunting. The group has bonded; they resist any attempts to add new members or to split the group into more manageable units. The incidence of panic attacks, depression, and bi-polar disorder is extremely high. They have all the impulses of adults without the judgement. My academic year is now half over and, as usual I will need to decide whether I will continue to make the long trip to work next year or to finally retire.