3/31: letting
...myself do not-work until the evening. In the morning I readied lots of postcards for the mail; in the afternoon I made some inch-square collages and then went for a sun-filled walk with Chris on the nature trail near campus. On the drive into town we saw a deer in the woods, a sweet sight.
3/30: two Davids
I met up with two friends named David today. One David I ran into unexpectedly at the state high-school language competition where we both turned out to be volunteering. The other David and I had a nice phone conversation which we had arranged earlier in the week.
3/29: redbuds
The redbuds popped into bloom this week. It was a busy, tiring week, but seeing the redbuds throughout it gave me a boost.
3/28: a good talk
...by a former student, on the animation of statues in Greek and Roman literature.
3/26: two
At home: seeing a bluebird almost as soon as I walked out the door this morning.
At school: talking with a student about a Plato erasure and bookbinding project.
At school: talking with a student about a Plato erasure and bookbinding project.
3/25: the calmest part of my day
...was reading Joel Agee's translation of Prometheus Bound. The play itself is not at all calm (Prometheus suffers under the cosmic tyranny of Zeus!), but I really like this play and Agee's translation of it. I'm grateful to have had the chance/excuse to re-read it tonight, polish up old thoughts, and collect some new ones.
3/24: looking back at break
I made a list of things to do over spring break, and--as usual--it was overly ambitious. But I got enough of it done to feel fine about it. And I'm glad that by not doing all of it I gave myself the chance to rest a bit and keep chasing away a cold that's trying to take hold.
3/23: visiting
...with a former student (now a professor himself), his spouse, and their two pug dogs. We met up for a nice walk around campus when they passed through town this morning.
3/22: enjoying
...doing some prep work for next week and then hanging out with Chris because we both weren't feeling well.
3/21: time to try
...some new recipes. A cabbage/pepper/parmesan dish for lunch and then coconut jasmine rice and Mongolian "beef" (using a vegan beef substitute) for dinner.
3/19: a walk with Chris
...down to the dock near sunset time. We spotted flowering wild plum trees peaking through the forest on the way down, and we were happy to see bats on the way back.
Here's the rising moon on the water:
Here's the rising moon on the water:
3/17: outside
I spent yesterday indoors, resting. Today I sat on the porch with the cats, walked for an hour, and visited the dock near sunset. On my way to the lake I took this picture of the bridal wreath at the bottom of our hill.
3/15: in passing
I crossed paths with some students and had quick conversations with them. They seemed genuinely happy to see me, and I'm really grateful for that.
3/14: spring!
In the air: strong winds carrying the smell of blooming trees and flowers.
On the ground: the white crocus that sprouts each year among the purple ones.
On the ground: the white crocus that sprouts each year among the purple ones.
3/13: more manageable
This year's Myth class is (by design) half the size of the class in years past. This makes class discussion easier every day, but this week I felt how much smoother it made the grading of their tests! I didn't have to set aside large chunks of weekend time to get them done; I could enjoy lingering on their answers to think about them instead of needing to keep moving-moving-moving; and I can get them back to the students more quickly (which I know they will appreciate).
3/12: a turn
...for the better in how today went. I talked through some things one-on-one with students, re-establishing (I hope) some inter-subjectivity. And a really disturbing display in the library--something that had overwhelmed me with its thoughtlessness and harmfulness yesterday--had been changed to remove the problematic part.
We looked at the Homeric Hymn to Demeter in Myth class; I brought long paper for the class to use as we mapped the poem's narrative, and the students had great things to say when we looked at the opening lines in Greek. It's not a class where you need to know Greek, so most of the people in there were working from a word-by-word Greek/English interlinear hand-out I had made, and they did keen work analyzing it.
When I finally got home Chris had gone grocering and bought (among other things) a cake!
We looked at the Homeric Hymn to Demeter in Myth class; I brought long paper for the class to use as we mapped the poem's narrative, and the students had great things to say when we looked at the opening lines in Greek. It's not a class where you need to know Greek, so most of the people in there were working from a word-by-word Greek/English interlinear hand-out I had made, and they did keen work analyzing it.
When I finally got home Chris had gone grocering and bought (among other things) a cake!
3/11: being lucky
...to have bad days awash with unpleasantness and unthoughtfulness and to realize that I'm nevertheless warm, dry, fed, loved by a few people, and able to read, write, think, see, and walk. Those are all wondrously good things.
3/8: writing
...about Sofonisba Anguissola's "Chess Game." I spent my Quiet Writing time mostly putting together some comments on a friend's poetry manuscript, but when I was done I had 10 minutes left and so filled a page with thoughts and questions about the painting.
3/7: much better
I didn't take the time at the beginning of the semester to clear some clutter from last semester. Now that we're halfway through another semester, I thought it was high time to do so, and I found myself with the leisure today to reshelve books, tidy piles, and do some sorting. The office feels so much better now.
3/6: less dizzy
...today than yesterday. It makes it much easier to get things done and to enjoy the doing of them.
3/5: a treat to self
Last week I ordered some lavender infused coffee. It was a bit pricey as coffee goes, but I wanted to give it a try. When it arrived yesterday, Chris said that his mother (who passed away in 2005 and whom we very much miss) would have approved of my treating myself--that made me feel like I had a guardian angel for my little pleasure.
I woke up around 3 a. m. this morning with vertigo and couldn't fall back to sleep until (of course) it was time to get up and get ready for school. So it was a day on which a special new coffee was a particular pick-me-up. And it was so good. I'll definitely be buying it again.
I woke up around 3 a. m. this morning with vertigo and couldn't fall back to sleep until (of course) it was time to get up and get ready for school. So it was a day on which a special new coffee was a particular pick-me-up. And it was so good. I'll definitely be buying it again.
3/4: finishing
...writing a letter of recommendation much more quickly than I anticipated, giving me the chance to go to bed a little early and (hopefully) sleep away a cold.
3/1: seeing
...one of my students' excitement as she works on her illuminated manuscript presentation.
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