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Oct 25
Oct 25
Keep your eyes on the scenery and your hand upon the wheel
I got a great deal of work done in the office today. The key was I had a list. The other key was, no one was on our floor during most of the time I was there. The other key was that I had an extra 75 minutes in the office based on how my day was set up. What that really means is that I’m closing in on some of the work that should have been done days ago.
But other work keeps popping up. And student papers. And every other thing. Plus prepping for the next class. Plus remembering the things I’d forgotten.
Right now, at least two things may be considered permanent fixtures on that list.
It’s OK, though. I’m sure next week I’ll have the time to finish those items. This is a thing I’ve said for the last four weeks. Or 12 years, who can really say?
Anyway, in lieu of anything better, I’d like to share with you a few of the lovely views from my drive home from campus. It’s quite the bit of scenery.
Tomorrow, I’m getting these stitches removed from my back, and finding out how many more days I need to take it easy. (I’m pretty much over that, which is always how you know you’ve recovered nicely.) Join me tomorrow for a report from the doctor’s office, won’t you?
But before that, make sure you’re caught up on Catober. Today was Poseidon’s day to look handsome, and he pulled it off easily. But both kitties are giving vibes. Click that link and scroll back to make sure you’ve seen them all.
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Oct 25
Oct 25
What if the trees talked back?
We spent the afternoon campus, because campus called for us to be there. My lovely bride had to take a few photos. And I had the chance to sit outside and enjoy the trees and the leaves and the breeze for about a half hour. Probably it wasn’t that long, but it was quiet and slow enough to feel that way, and that probably means something.
And after that I did some grading in the office, in between the casual meetings that are held in the doorways of the office.
The bulk of the afternoon was devoted to a faculty meeting. It was said that it should be a seven-hour meeting. It was two-and-a-half. I am not sure it needed to be seven. But I did learn something important about curriculum creation. And I was able to talk about our department’s social media progress — views up 174 percent, followers up 22 percent! — which is now something I oversee.
I also wrote a bunch of email today, but I think I’ve done that most every day for the last quarter of a century and it might not be that notable anymore.
I remember being so excited when I got my first email account, in college. How often I checked it. How important it felt to check frequently. How I spent way too much time coming up with absurd sig files. How I instinctively understood to avoid FWDs. I remember my first spam. Now, I’m just trying to figure out how many times I should peer into an inbox in a day. And also wondering why there’s so much in my inboxes, which I treat as To Do lists. The bigger the inbox, the more to do. And so you see the loss of appeal.
In the front yard the Acer nigrum, the black maple, is turning. This is such an interesting tree. So steady in its coloration, until this week, when the leaves begin to turn green.
It’s a large tree, fully developed and mature. Maybe 70 feet tall, and it sits right next to the road. It looks like a sentinel as you drive through. And the best part is that most of the leaves just … disappear.
We’ll gather some, but not nearly as many as have been showing off all year. Maybe they all go into the neighbor’s yard, across the street. They have one of these same trees. Who can tell where the leaves come from?
OK, back to work. I must finish preparing for class. There’s a midterm in one tomorrow, and a strategic planning exercise in the other. So there’s only the one slide deck to prepare, but, still, information must be conveyed, and I am the one that must do it.
Listening to the trees would be a better use of the evening, though.
