4/29: the last regularly scheduled office hour
...of the academic year was this afternoon, and it was a good one. A student reflected very thoughtfully on a project they had recently finished.
4/28: receiving official word
...about the decision of a student conduct case that's taken up a lot of mental and emotional space.
4/27: Charlotte's words
Every week since the end of October I've been posting a new positive/encouraging adjective derived from Latin or Greek elements on the bulletin board at school. It reminds me of how Charlotte in Charlotte's Web wove words. She did it to attract attention to Wilbur; I'm just trying to have some goodness available for people's eyes (and minds) as they walk by the board. A colleague today mentioned how much she likes seeing them.
4/26: 4 Bs
...on my morning walk: bees, butterflies, a bunny, and berries (as yet unripe, but something to look forward to).
4/25: the luxury
...of having two rice makers. While one is cooking jasmine brown rice, the other is working on Jasberry rice. (I like to mix the two when making fried rice.)
4/24: re-reading
...the last bit of "The Old Vicarage, Grantchester." It goes:
Say, is there Beauty yet to find?And Certainty? and Quiet kind?Deep meadows yet, for to forgetThe lies, and truths, and pain? . . . oh! yetStands the Church clock at ten to three?And is there honey still for tea?
4/23: a trio of good things
On my drive to school I saw a decommissioned school bus that had some of its letters whited-out so it said "cool bus."
I forgot to bring soy milk to school for my coffee, so I used some of my "free" money in the snack shop to buy chocolate soy milk to use instead.
Our Ovidian stories for the day's reading in Myth class show up in Shakespeare, so I could give shout-outs on Shakespeare's birthday. (The timing wasn't planned, just luck.)
4/22: being glad
...that we read Victoria Turnbull's Pandora for today's picturebooks class meeting. It's a tired and tiring time of the semester, and Turnbull's book was oh-so-welcome amidst the busy-ness and exhaustion. And I really liked hearing the students' thoughts: each one took a different 2-page "opening" and talked through what they liked about it.
4/21: seeing a bronze cat
...sculpture on a bench outside the library. It was last year's senior class gift, dedicated in honor of one of the former campus cats who had claimed that area as his territory.
4/20: no appointments
...in my regular office hours this afternoon. This may be the first time in years that that's been the case. I like working with students, and that's what office hours are for, but today it was a welcome change to have some time to catch up on other work.
4/19: picking up prescriptions
...in a hassle-free way. For months the pharmacy's fulfillment system hadn't been working smoothly. Prescriptions would get stalled in the automated queue, leading to extra check-ins with the pharmacy to move the process along. It seems to be working correctly now (knock on wood), which is welcome on my end and I'm sure is better for the pharmacy people too.
4/18: remembering
...a good thing from Friday morning. As I was walking to my car to head to school, a neighborhood cat ran by with a lizard in its mouth. I got the cat to drop the lizard, which managed to get away before the cat could catch it again.
4/17: remembering another good thing
...from yesterday. Yesterday morning, as I was getting ready to leave for school, I noticed some blue stains near the hem of my pants that weren't there when I had ironed them a little earlier. I showed them to Chris, and he asked, "Did you walk by any spiderwort?" I had: I had passed spiderwort as I was taking out some garbage and must have rubbed against them. I didn't mind the stains so much then: I was wearing flowers. Remembering that this morning--when I was again taking out some trash--made me smile.
4/15: folding
...artist-book poem pamphlets with a student at the end of the day. Though it prolonged my time at school, it was a good interaction.
4/14: reading
...a student's thoughts about milk in "The Miraculous Pitcher" by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
4/13: reading
...Yeats' "Song of Wondering Aengus" today in A Poem for Every Day of the Year. I remember first reading it in Cricket magazine when I was a kid.
4/11: black seed powder
...in my coffee and in my fried rice. I'm trying it out for its possible health benefits, and I like the taste.
4/10: a lacewing
...that I helped get out of the house this evening. Such a beautiful green body and amazing wings.
4/9: morning & evening
Receiving a Facebook message this morning from a mail-art friend who took a picture of clouds reflected on water and wanted to share it with me to let me know she was thinking of me.
Smelling flowers in the night air when I got home from an evening work-session at school.
4/8: remarking
...on the amazing weather with a colleague heading to their car at the same time I was. We lingered and talked about various things, appreciating the chance to pass a few words while enjoying the air and light and greenness.
4/5: having stollen
...for breakfast. I made it yesterday but didn't try it until this morning. It baked well (which was particularly happy, since the stollen loaves I made at Christmas and New Year were less successful, though still good). Before putting it in a tight container last night, I drizzled it with a lemon juice + powdered sugar glaze (something I usually forgo in order to cut down on sugar), and it was the right extra touch.
4/4: waiting
...until today to read yesterday's poem in A Poem for Every Day of the Year. When I opened the book yesterday morning and saw that it was a multiple-page "nonsense" poem by Edward Lear, I felt like I wasn't in the right place to read it and enjoy it. This morning I was.
4/2: some beauty
...at the end of a very unsettling day. As some lucky relief, for my last bit of work this evening I got to read the end of Hawthorne's Wonder Book.
4/1: no new grammar lesson
...in Latin class today. We needed a breather, and we spent the day working on translations together.
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