Lil' lurker...

16 October 2024: After a lot of tearing around the place (something she does a lot when I come home after being gone a long time), this lil' lurker got awfully quiet, doing an impression of Veronica, the queen of shady lurking. But she's not fooling me--still lots of energy left to burn. 

Roof guy...

15 October 2024: Took a bit longer than I thought it would to actually happen, but a guy (from a company) came by today to look at my roof. I've been worried for months about some shingles popping up and (long, boring story) am currently waiting to hear what my warranty covers. In the meantime, I wanted to make sure things were okay. Much to my relief, the roof guy said some minor repairs might be needed, but it is not a crisis. Music to this professional worrier's ears!

Quiet Monday evening...

14 October 2024: Yes, I am repeating yesterday's post a bit, but it's worth highlighting a couple of quiet and relatively stress-free nights in a row. It's been a long and busy day, but a good one and I got so much done. There are still some items on my to-do list, but I am yawning my head off and they can maybe wait until tomorrow. My tired butt just wants to watch the Yankees (ahead of Cleveland 4-0 in the fifth inning of Game One of the ALCS as of right now) and then head to bed.

Quiet Sunday evening moment...

13 October 2024: Just realized I usually do a "Midterm Grading: DONE!" post--complete with a chair-dancing song on days like this when I, in fact, finish submitting my midterm grades. But I guess the moment (nearly six hours ago) was anti-climactic in what has been a different kind of a semester in some ways. So, I'll break the tradition this semester and post about something different on the day I submit the grades...

What I wanted to post about when I opened Blogger was this quiet moment unfolding here. Grades are done. Most of my weekend "to do" list is done. The windows and back door are open on a weirdly warm autumn day. Veronica and Jo are loving it. But this has to be one of the last days like this before real autumn sets in. 

Part of me finds it melancholy; I don't like thinking about months of closed up windows and early darkness approaching. 

But--in the midst of what has been a hard couple of weeks--another part of me is just so grateful for this moment: the gift of the breeze and its sweet smell. Seeing neighbors walk by. The peace of watching my girls look out the windows, wash their paws, stretch out, and relax. The quiet. 

I want to remember it all--breathing it in literally, but also trying to breathe it into my soul to sustain me in the days ahead.  

Best mini-essay ever?

12 October 2024: I have started giving ENGL 204 students "mini-essays" on their midterm exams: short prompts where they argue a thesis about a text in 200-250 words. I have also been trying to make the prompts more open to their interests. This particular one--which invites them to talk about how something they read connected to their lives outside the classroom--stopped me in my tracks and legit made me cry. It's an absolute gift. I am so grateful to this student and, as always, to Emily Dickinson, who inspired her. 

Night Rider's Lament

11 October 2024: This song has been in my head since last night when I saw those Northern Lights. "They've never seen those Northern Lights..." he sings. It's also a lovely and surprisingly complicated meditation on the life choices folks make that others just don't understand.

 

Northern Lights

10 October 2024: I used to wonder if I'd ever get a chance to see the Northern Lights. Tonight, I did, at least for a bit. Feels like a gift and I am grateful.

He'd be 50...

9 October 2024: Today is Ryan's birthday, so of course he's been on my mind all day. I mentioned him in my ENGL 204 class when we talked about Mary Wilkins Freeman's "A New England Nun" and was describing Joe Dagget: a man's man, uncomfortable in tight or fancy settings, but kind and decent through and through. 

Field trip...

8 October 2024: If I weren't so very tired, I would write something eloquent about the trip our GWST class took to DC today, visiting the White House, meeting with two young women who work there, and then getting a tour of the Museum of Women in the Arts. But I am very tired at the end of what has been a heck of an eleven-day endurance trial. 

The short version: it was a great day. 

Morning walk...

7 October 2024: Snapped this picture at around 7:30 a.m. this morning on my walk. Stopped and breathed in the beauty of that moment. Felt how much lighter this morning felt compared to last Monday morning. Said to myself, "Oh, this can be your daily post. And since today won't be as busy, you can post it in any five free minutes you find--early, even!" (My goodness: I wish I had gotten a picture of the sunrise just 45 minutes or so earlier, but I was driving...)

Well, it's almost 5:30 and I haven't had five free minutes until right now and even right now I am stressed about using these five minutes for anything other than work. Because, as I've known, the real dash that began last Monday doesn't end until tomorrow night. 

But that's okay. Because today was also very good. And this image set the tone.

She's home...

6 October 2024: The best news of the day/week/month is that after being in the hospital since Thursday, Tara was released today. 

She's absolutely the strongest person I know. Life keeps throwing her challenge after challenge and she just keeps meeting them. It's awe-inspiring, but once again--my good, I have to ask, why does she keep having to prove her strength?

Praying for her to keep recovering, to get some rest, and to know how wonderful she is. (Doing my best to help with that last part.)

That's the good stuff...

5 October 2024: "I was always excited to do this, but I never fully expected such an astounding number of examples to work with. It opened my eyes to the presence of rhetorical tactics outside of just the classroom, and recently when I watched the JD Vance and Tim Walz debate, I felt that I had a better idea of the underlying tactics both candidates tried to use. I never expected this project to have any effect on me outside of the classroom, but I was proven wrong within a week." --a student reflecting on his rhetorical analysis essay (about an press conference before an MMA match!) in his cover letter. 

I mean, that's the good stuff. Made me really happy. 

Sighs of different size...

4 October 2024: Finished third of three Provost candidate visits today. So, big sigh of relief there. 

Much more importantly, after about twenty-four hours of being very worried about Tara, who is sick, I got to talk to her. Still a way to go for her to get home, but hearing her voice and some updates made me sigh a sigh of relief that dwarfs the one above. 

Should sleep very well tonight, I hope. Do have to be up at like 6:00 for the garage repair guy, but that's okay. 

Still standing, indeed...

3 October 2024: Working my tail off today, but my mood is so much better and lighter than it has been. There's a three-part prescription at work: sunshine (it's been so rainy for so many days--and I finally got to mow the lawn), time to just get stuff done, and lunch with Hannah at Sheetz. 

Still a lot to get done today and still feeling a bit under the weather (why we ate at Sheetz--and outside!), but I sure feel like I can do this.

And what a perfect song playing on Pandora as I type this!

Two down...

2 October 2024: Made it through hosting our second candidate today. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel if I squint, which is nice. But I am dragging and there is so much more to do. (Haven't mentioned yet that my garage door broke on Saturday night and that I have yet another stack of papers to grade...)

And I think I might be getting a cold, which seems especially rude. 

But we can do this...