Today I met my students and the semester really began. It feels like it's going to be a good semester. For a long time, I have had the idea of using Eristalis larvae as an observational exercise for students. The first time I taught writing, I thought we wouldn't need to do an observation exercise, but I discovered I was mistaken. I've done it before with a variety of different things, but nothing has worked as well as the Eristalis larvae (aka rat-tailed maggots). You can pick them up at a bait shop (but evidently only during the winter -- people use them for ice-fishing). They are a handsome pale maggot with a bunch of little prolegs (or similar) and a long tail, which they use like a snorkle to breath in poorly ogygenated water. The students were horrified, repulsed, and fascinated all at once and, after working seriously for 45 minutes or so, they came up with a huge array of thoughtful and detailed observations. It was great! The first day is always the toughest, but I think it went well and I'm looking forward to the rest of the semester.