5/31: writing
...to two former students: one because it is his birthday day, the other because he asked for some of my memories of him in Greek class 20 years ago.
5/30: Emma's cry
...for french fries! He likes to eat them, but we haven't brought any home for months and months. Today we went through a drive-through, and as soon as we brought the bag with fries through the door of the house, Emma smelled them and started meowing insistently, reminding us to give him some (which we did).
5/29: out
...on the lake in my kayak for the first time in quite awhile.
And Chris had changed the innertubes on my kayak cart so that they'll never need pumping, which meant that I didn't have to pause before heading to the dock.
5/28: like pennsylvania
I went walking this evening after we had some rain in the afternoon. The air was moist but not too hot, and everything smelled green. It felt like I was walking in Pennsylvania rather than Arkansas.
5/25: making PDFs
...of some poems for Heron Tree. I enjoyed the chance to be in the poems by typing them, and I'm grateful to the poets who sent them our way.
5/23: getting to ten
I'm very achey today, so it was a good day to use Barbara's suggestion of working toward 10 things. I: 1) finished Tom Brown's School Days and talked with Chris about similarities between its reception and Little Women, 2) walked on the ridge while listening to Venetia, 3) talked with our neighbor Betty, 4) got some pamphlets ready to mail, 5) texted my mother (for her birthday) and some friends, 6) watched TV with Chris because we both weren't feeling up to much else, 7) packed some school books from the semester to take back to campus and clear (physical and mental) space for new projects, 8) verified my replacement credit card, 9) registered the Jeep, and 10) started reading a new novel.
I miss Barbara's wisdom and perspective; I'm grateful our paths crossed, and I'm glad that every time I have a "keep going until you reach 10 things" day I especially think of her.
5/22: three
Walking in the morning (to beat the rain).
Working out a pamphlet problem in the afternoon.
Cleaning my bathroom in the evening.
Working out a pamphlet problem in the afternoon.
Cleaning my bathroom in the evening.
5/21: having some thoughts
...about Tom Brown's School Days and writing them out while on the porch with Tilde this morning.
5/17: trying
...to keep negative thoughts at bay--by actively talking them down, collaging, and tinkering with pamphlet formatting. Now I'll try by sweeping the floors while listening to an audiobook. Making the attempt is a good thing, even if it doesn't always work!
5/15: writing a report
...about the book groups I ran this year at school. This is one of my usual year-end bureaucratic tasks. This morning I enjoyed doing it because the reading groups this year were so good; I was grateful to have a chance to remember that goodness.
5/14: being unexpectedly transported
...to the hill of the Uffington Chalk Horse by the opening pages of Tom Brown's School Days by Thomas Hughes. I had no idea that the book would start that way, and it was such a pleasure to remember a morning and afternoon spent with Chris in that landscape two decades ago.
5/11: some good amidst a lot of not-good
I was treated very unfairly and hostilely by a parent of one of my students today. It was horrible, and it was public. But I made chocolate/peanut butter energy bites as well as tofu "tuna," and I took a long walk and got absorbed for 2 hours this evening in making the Etymology test for tomorrow.
5/10: baking
...a blood orange breakfast bread. I made it near the start of our remote-teaching/learning time, and I thought it would be fitting to make it again now that we're in the final week of the semester.
5/9: forward and backward
Chris and I walked the trail at Woolly Hollow to Gold Creek. Then Chris went to the car while I backtracked to the beginning on the trail. Today I brought the bison along.
5/8: three
Making some flower-themed mini-collages to clear my mind.
Enjoying a new-to-us peanut soup recipe.
Seeing a bunny twice during my evening walk.
Enjoying a new-to-us peanut soup recipe.
Seeing a bunny twice during my evening walk.
5/7: reading and writing
I read a little part of the Myth students' final assignments today in which I asked them to choose 3 things from the course that they were especially glad to have done, read, encountered, or thought. They choose nice things and it was heartening to read them. (Especially at a time when I really need to be heartened.)
I also wrote them each a note to let them know I got their final assignment and to wish them a good summer. Some of them wrote me sweet emails about the course and/or with their return good wishes--which they didn't need to do, but I am so grateful they did.
I also wrote them each a note to let them know I got their final assignment and to wish them a good summer. Some of them wrote me sweet emails about the course and/or with their return good wishes--which they didn't need to do, but I am so grateful they did.
5/6: on the deck
A friend called me while I was taking my evening walk. Once it grew too dark to keep walking, I stayed on our deck and kept talking with her. The fireflies came out, the moon rose, and the air was filled with flowers.
5/5: reading
...the Etymology students' analogies for language: the ocean, a volcanic island, air, wind, the seasons, a rose, a forge, Mandalorian beskar armor, building a house, a garment we knit and patch, a garden, a pothos plant, a plant, roots of a plant, living/evolving organisms, a role-playing game, a vine.
5/4: enjoying eggcorns
...that I've seen recently: spreads a new light (for sheds a new light), harps back (for harks back), and basic tenant (for basic tenet).
5/3: nearing the end
...of assignment-sheet grading. I only have one more day's worth for each class to do. (Then, of course, final assignments, but I'll have a bit of a breather before I need to begin those.)
5/2: walking
...at Cove Creek. It's the first time I've been out of the neighborhood for a non-essential reason in a month and a half. (We choose Cove Creek because there are rarely other people there so we knew we wouldn't have to worry about distancing.) I brought my little donkey along.
5/1: better
My head was in a not-good whirl from Wednesday afternoon through Thursday evening, but today it was better. I wrote my way into clarity--not Quiet Writing but bureaucratic communication that made me feel saner as the words came together. And then, after some grading, I talked with my sister and read aloud from Finn Family Moomintroll with Chris.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)