24
Dec 24
Dec 24
Christmas Eve
We had a white Christmas Eve! Almost. It was the kind of snow that stuck to stone, but couldn’t manage to hang on anywhere that wasn’t pre-chilled. And there wasn’t much to it. Even still, it looked pretty for a few moments.
And at 11:59 p.m. last night my last two classes of the semester ended. When they asked me if I would like to teach 8-week classes it didn’t occur to me to look at the end date of the term. Lesson learned.
So I spent a bit of the early a.m. hours grading some quizzes and discussions. I still have to evaluate the final assignments, and then tally the scores. But that’s what Thursday will be for, I’m sure.
When I was outside looking at the snow on the pavers, I heard the honking, and looked up, just in time for this happy little composition.
About an hour later, we were sitting inside chatting about this and that and I heard the honking again. Look how the sky had changed
The geese had big holiday travel plans.
And now I’m going to go to the grocery store, and maybe the drug store, just to get out of the house. I have been so focused on trying to wrap up my grading I don’t think I’ve left in several days.
23
Dec 24
Dec 24
The assemblage of the 23rd
The in-laws are here for the holidays. My mother spent Thanksgiving here, and they are here for Christmas. It still feels strange to not travel everywhere for the holidays, but it is also nice to make some of these moments in our home.
And don’t underestimate the practical value of not being constantly on the move. That’s not what it is about, but sometimes that’s what it becomes, which is not what it is about.
If that makes sense.
Anyway, they arrived safely, brought some cold down with them, and we will have a fine old time this week.
I walked by the Dickensian village at just the right time today. I enjoy the village. I’d vote to keep them out for longer, just for the classic scenes and all of the little activities and details you can find. The designs are charming, the lights in them, in the evening, are a delight.
And, today, the sun streaming in was creating these lovely little shadows.
I wish we had the space to display them all. (We have a lot.) Alas, we have a Catzilla.
When I hauled the garbage can to the end of the drive last night, I looked up to see …
… not drones. (That’s Orion. And if this confuses you, get an app, or crack a book.)
Let’s talk about the bike. I did nothing for the first two weeks of December. It was, I thought, an uncharacteristically long lull, and it felt like it. I rode 21 whole miles the weekend before this, just to see if my legs and feet could remember how to make tiny circles. I got in 70 miles on two days last week, just to see if I still could. This weekend I pedaled my way through 72 more miles.
Now we get to the problem of the spreadsheet. Since I log all of these things — in about three different ways — I know precisely where I am. I know what the trend lines look like, what’s possible, what is beyond reach and, dangerously, what might be feasible, if I stretch.
And that’s always the dilemma. Is it authentic if I see those benchmarks coming and push just a little more to get there. Even if only barely?
This is what I can get to, if I ride a lot in this last week: a new-to-me round number. It’s a small amount, so I don’t even want to say it aloud. I could finish the year with the number of miles equaling the circumference of the earth, at this latitude, anyway. (Next year I’ll finish my first equatorial circle of the earth.) Doing all of that also means I could also set a new record for the month of December.
In all, it seems unlikely. I had that lull to start the month, and time is short.
But if I push, I thought as I pedaled through 30 more miles today, if I could somehow get 300 more miles this week …
That’s not a lot. Except, to me, it most definitely is.
That spreadsheet just sits here, taunting me.
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Dec 24
Dec 24
Writing around the cats
We have not checked in on the kittehs this week, which is of course, my contractual obligation, and a serious oversight, considering they are the most popular regular feature on the site.
I haven’t taught site analytics in a while, but if I did, I could use this place’s humble numbers, and the bump the cats generate, as an example. Anyway, it’s a lazy day around here. Phoebe needs to catch a snooze. Just about any foot would do.
Poseidon is back to taking his afternoon naps on top of the armoire. Sorry to disturb you there, pal.
Yesterday, and today, we were in Connecticut. Now we are back here. And the cats, of course they noticed.
Last night was the Special Church Christmas party. My dear sweet mother-in-law runs a weekly program for people with various developmental disabilities. They do crafts and music therapy and all sorts of fun social stuff. At the Christmas party, Santa always shows up. And he was there last night, too.
After the party we went to their favorite Italian restaurant with some of the Special Church volunteers and the music therapist and had a lovely time. Today, we had a meeting with a friend and colleague at another university for an upcoming event they are hosting in February. We’re going to try to take some students and so we hashed out a few details over pizza.
It was an excuse to see our friend. And have pizza. We also discussed work a bit.
This evening we had a quiet dinner with the in-laws, and then they sent us packing. So we got back here just before midnight. Now this, and this weekend, and forever after, more grading.
I think I have the first two classes done. I’ll go through the scores one last time probably tomorrow. I have two other classes that wrap up on Monday, and their grades will be due by the end of the week or so. Happy holidays, students, I hope you earned the grade you wanted this year!
After that, there will be time for precisely four deep breaths, and then back to work.
Maybe five deep breaths. And possibly a nap. Just not on the armoire.
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Dec 24
Dec 24
Three more quick museum notes
Before we went to the museum yesterday, I had a look at the gift shop online, and I knew I wanted one of these, so I picked up one as a little gift for myself. I couldn’t tell you the last time I bought something at a gift shop, and I almost talked myself out of it, but, in the end, I’m glad I got one. This is a lapel pin version of the flag which, according to tradition, George Washington used to denote his headquarters during the war.
Looks fantastic on my lapel.
And then, as we were leaving the gift shop, pleased with my purchase spending four hours in the past, I saw this flag on the opposite wall. This is a reproduction of Washington’s standard.
But wait! While the original is preserved by the museum, and was not on display, this one has a story that would have been unbelievable to the first president.
This reproduction went to space with Sen. John Glenn in 1998, orbiting the earth 134 times, covering 3.6 million miles on the Space Shuttle Discovery, 199 years after Washington died.
Also, I took a quick photos inside the gift shop, so I could see more closely consider the books I want to one day read. I made a list on Amazon, and if you want to see 25 of the best books on display (there were probably 40 or so, total), you can see what I’ll be reading in the future.
