1/31: having time
...to try a new recipe for dinner (creamy spicy miso pasta; recipe here) because school was closed due to weather.
1/30: turning out okay
...prints for my Valentine's Day cards, that is. I had been stressing out about them, but they arrived today and are really nice. I also stressed out because the colored envelopes I ordered to go with them arrived last week and had to be sent back because they were the wrong, wrong color. But some reckoning this evening shows me that I have plenty of envelopes on hand in pink and purple shades. I don't know why I tied myself up in a bit of a knot about all this, but I'm glad the knot is now undone.
1/28: a new Eno
Well, new-for-me at least. Music for Airports is pretty much the only album I've listened to at all in the past 3 years. I love it and am glad I can carry it around with me on my phone. I was getting ready to play it this afternoon as I tidied my campus office. Then I thought: why not get another Brian Eno album to listen to? So I downloaded his second album in the Ambient series and listened to it. Then I listened to it again in the evening, as I was working through some photo-editing at home.
1/27: faster on Friday night
I needed to set up a bunch of assignments in Microsoft Teams for my students, and during the school-week the wait-times during loading seemed long. I decided to try tonight from home, and it went much quicker. Less overall traffic to slow things down? Whatever the reason, I'm glad that something that I thought would take an hour took 20 minutes instead.
1/26: noticing
...new things about the opening books of the Odyssey as I prepared for today's class. One of my favorite fresh observations: how Athena at the end of book 2 both compares and contrasts with Eurycleia at the end of book 1.
1/25: at home, at school
At home: smelling the blooming winter honeysuckle!
At school: enjoying the smarts of a 2-line Latin poem by Martial.
1/24: dolphins
...in the art we looked at in Myth class today. Two of the images were ones I found and used for the first time last year. I like them a lot, and I was excited when I remembered them for this year. The students did a really nice job of talking about them too.
1/23: a childhood food
...for dinner: crepes topped with (or rolled up with) applesauce, sausage, and maple syrup. My mother would make this as a special brunch, and I love it. I used to make it more frequently but fell out of the habit when our grocery store stopped carrying "tubes" (for lack of a better word) of vegetarian ground sausage. When I recently spotted it back in the store again--after years--I picked some up. I made crepes yesterday, and we had the special brunch for dinner. There were leftovers, so we were able to have it for dinner again today.
1/22: hemming
...a pair of pants for tomorrow. A sweet, small activity. And I'm still using the sewing machine that my parents gave me when I graduated from high school in 1986!
1/20: a better day
...after a tough evening of work and too-short night of sleep. I'm glad to end the work-week on a calmer and more positive note than seemed likely yesterday.
1/19: walking in the sun
...around campus with a colleague as we talked about offering some found poetry workshops this semester.
1/18: a little bit of a breather
...this evening, after 3 packed days. It gave me time to read some Heron Tree poetry submissions, write a few notes to go in the mail tomorrow, and--yes--finish cleaning my bathroom.
1/17: receiving
...a loaf of sweet bread from El Salvador. My colleague and friend visited her parents there over winter break, and her mother sent it back with her to give to me. It is so good and was such a fantastic treat to have as dessert after a long day at school and before some hours of evening work. I'm already looking forward to having some for breakfast tomorrow.
1/16: and still more writing
This time syllabuses, but also a reply to an amazing email from a former student.
1/15: more writing
...and imagined writing. I replied to another former student's email today, and I felt the makings of an essay gathering in my mind after finishing Echo after Echo by Amy Rose Capetta.
1/14: writing some notes
...to wonderful people--friends, family, former students--who have written to me in recent months.
1/13: three good things
One from the morning: The lull in construction continued, so I was able to take my walk.
One from the afternoon: I printed, cut, and folded copies of a pamphlet I had designed in August but hadn't had time to produce.
One from the evening: I read an offprint of an article by a former student that he had sent to me.
1/12: two good morning things
We had cinnamon rolls for breakfast!
And there was no construction on the street today, so I could go for my morning walk. Soon enough weekday morning walks on the ridge won't be possible--since I'll be back to teaching--so I was especially grateful I could get one in today.
1/11: two outings
In town this morning we went to the bakery then walked on a new-to-us part of the Tucker Creek path.
In the late afternoon we drove to Heber Springs so that we could watch the migrating swans at sunset.
1/10: a handful of good things
Visiting the cascade with Chris and being the only people there.
Shopping in a very uncrowded grocery store. (The music being played in the store was very agitating, so having fewer people there really helped me not get edgy/anxious.)
Ordering a new iPhone. (It needed to be done weeks or even months ago, but at least it's finally done now.)
Watching the sunset at the dock while listening to Brian Eno's Music for Airports. (A good pairing.)
Talking with my brother.
1/9: reading
...Paradise Sands by Levi Pinfold, and enjoying thinking about it, its illustrations, and its similarities to and differences from particular myths and fairytales.
1/8: finishing up
...my online conference-going. I enjoyed both panels that I listened to today, so that was a particularly nice way to end.
1/7: icing
...the Epiphany teaberry pig cookies which we made yesterday evening. I didn't add lemon extract to the cookies themselves this year, and I missed that taste to balance the teaberry, so I mixed some lemon with confectioner's sugar and gave each little pig a coat.
1/6: talking with my sister
...about some unhappy things that happened with my conference presentation today. I am grateful that she picked up the phone and put her evening on hold in order to talk with me.
1/5: visiting
...Woolly Hollow with Chris. It had been quite some time since I had gone! I forgot my boots, so we didn't linger by the bigger creek and cascade, but we enjoyed walking along the smaller Gold Creek. Chris made little movies of the water, and I took pictures.
1/4: receiving
...some specialty paper I had ordered. The company inadvertently sent it to the wrong address; I noticed this when I looked at the tracking information I had been sent. I contacted them about the problem, and they were able to get the package re-routed so it arrived at the correct address today. I was worried that it was going to be a rigamarole to get the order refunded and/or resent, but it ended up being quick and smooth, delayed only by business closures for the New Year holiday.
1/2: working through
...photos I've taken over the past few weeks when I've gone down to the dock for sunset.
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