8/31: another month met

As I did last month, I set myself the goal of writing to 31 different people ("different" meaning if I wrote to the same person twice or more, it only counted once toward the goal).  I just finished writing my last two notes (with four hours to spare).

8/30: wildflower friend

Lots of Pennsylvania smartweed along the farm roads today:

8/29: putting it in perspective

I forgot about my upset stomach when I was out on the water.

And Chris is now playing the ukulele, which is always a happy sound.

8/28: bases

Chris is back at school, but my classes don't begin until a week from today, so the temptation is to have amorphous days--which sounds like it would be relaxing, but I end up getting stressed out by the aimlessness.  So I've been resorting to my old "bases" approach this week, making sure that every day I do at least one thing for the house or myself, one thing that counts as exercise, one thing for work, and one thing that constitutes contact with the outside world for something other than work.  I am grateful for this strategy (even if--years ago--it did arise out of something like desperation), and one of my friends recently told me that she adapted it for herself and used it this summer with happy results.

8/27: so i am glad

...that I read So I Am Glad by A. L. Kennedy. I finished it this morning.  And oh my goodness, it is so smart and beautiful. Even its hard-to-get-into-it-at-first-ness is part of its smart and beautiful plan.

8/26: upturn

An awkward day in many ways, but in the latter half I tried to turn it (and myself) around with grocery shopping, a mojito to celebrate the fact that I don't go back to work tomorrow, a batch of blueberry cornbread, and evening kayaking.  On my way down the hill to the lake I saw the moths on the alium.  That on its own is a very good thing.

8/25: taking in the view

This afternoon I did another round of proofing on the Heron Tree volume. By this point I've read all of the poems multiple times, but I had never read all of them in one sitting like I did today. I enjoyed working through them that way.

This evening we drove to Petit Jean Mountain for sunset, as has become traditional for us as a way to mark the end of summer and start of the school year.

8/24: unpacking complete

My school office is finally all unpacked.  It's cleaner and more organized than it's ever been--which is a bit ironic, given that I'm not teaching this year and so won't be using my office much, but it will be good to have it feeling fresh whenever I do come in and when I return to full-time teaching next year.