10/31: voting

My county had early voting at the public library, so a colleague and I went after our afternoon office hours were over. It somehow feels right to vote in a public library, it's such a welcoming civic space. And today was a great day to wait in line because there was such much to look at: since it's Halloween, librarians-in-costume were giving out candy to children-in-costume, and at different tables there were craft activities and reading groups. There were a good number of other early voters; we had to wait an hour. But, all in all, a festive atmosphere for exercising a right and a privilege.

10/30: strangers met

I don't like meeting strangers, and I definitely don't like making conversation when if feels like an obligation. But two professional contacts (whom I've never met in person) happened to be passing through town today, and they asked if I wanted to get together for coffee and a chat. So I met them this morning. They were very pleasant people, and I even think I managed to not be my usually socially awkward self.

10/29: enclitics are sweet

Enclitic accenting rules in ancient Greek are a bit baroque, but I've devised a way to explain them that (I think/hope) makes sense. I introduced the rules to my students yesterday and gave them a worksheet to do for homework. Today we practiced applying the rules, and they had them down. I even got them to say "enclitics are sweet" in unison, though I suspect they did that more out of kindness toward me rather than real conviction about the nature of enclitics. So maybe I should amend my good thing: enclitics--and students--are sweet.

10/28: a successful talk about the meaning of feet

I hosted a visiting speaker on campus today. This evening he gave a public lecture about the significance of bare (or unbare) feet in ancient Greek literature, ritual, and art. It went so well: we had a pleasant dinner beforehand, the talk was very interesting and fun to listen to, and there were over 80 people in the audience--every seat in the room was taken!

10/27: dinner almost ready & waiting

I was at the office by 7:30 this morning, so my hope was to leave by 4:30 this afternoon--but it didn't happen, and by the time I did leave I was more than ready for dinner. When I got home and stepped into the house, there was Chris, putting some finishing touches on a pizza before sliding it into the oven! All I had to do was make a salad while the pizza was baking.

10/26: autumn hope scatter

This afternoon Chris came out of his office with a glass jar full of seeds, collected over the years. He said, "Let's go outside." As we walked through the grass, he poured the seeds into my hands for me to sprinkle and throw here and there. He called it the Autumn Hope Scatter.

10/25: psyche's sisters

The Greek word for soul--psyche--is also the word for moth. I love that fact, plain and simple. I also love the fact that there are more moths and butterflies here in Arkansas than I have seen anywhere else. And the autumn doesn't seem to be slowing them down much. Today they were flitting over all the roadside wildflowers.

10/24: a smiley face

When we moved to Arkansas 8 years ago, we needed a second car and I bought Chris' mother's Camry from her because she wanted to get a convertible. I loved driving the Camry, and I loved that it used to belong to Chris' mother. That connection became especially welcome after she passed away in 2005. This summer the car gave out, and I was so sorry to see it go. My new Corolla is a good car, but it hardly feels like it's mine, and (obviously) it doesn't have the connection to Chris' mother. In the Camry she had put a smiley face sticker on the dashboard, something I would never have done. Yet, because she had put it there, I never took it off. Today I added a smiley face sticker to the dash on the Corolla, making it feel a little more like my car--and her car.