August 31

I like having just enough routine that I don’t have to buy day-of-the-week panties.

1979

Four productive days!!! I think I can safely say I’m back in the swing. The important thing now is to set up priorities for finishing things up this weekend.

V’s flattery is very much welcome. My poor crippled ego! It must get stronger sooner or later. The successes of my students are heartwarming. RD’s request for a presentation to her class lifted my spirits considerably. 

Now if only the weather would cool off a bit (or a lot).

1987

Kiddo 1’s first day of school. I kept thinking that kindergarten wouldn’t make much of an impression on us, after five years of day care. But she was still nervous and I was a bit teary. She seemed so happy, once we got there. Having her best friend there helped. Her teacher seemed kindly and pleasant. She went down the row as we stood  outside and read each child’s name tag. When she came to Kiddo, she said, “and this is M___, who reads”. Kiddo was so pleased! Well, let’s see how it works.

Comment 2023

It was a mixed experience. Kiddo ended up reading aloud to her classmates and being bored with everything but recess. Stay tuned; drama ensues.

1997

And so August draws to a close. I am just a day away from a new semester, and unusually ready, at least in the tactical sense. I am less ready emotionally. I enjoy working along more and more every year. I notice this more when I get a break from campus. When the break ends, I turn reluctantly back to a more public - and more hectic - kind of work. My resolution to hold at least an hour a day for myself is FIRM.

1998

The first day of school, the last day of August. Feels like the end of summer.

But this is the day I've been waiting for! The first real day of my sabbatical. The time back in May was just marking time and practicing, because I knew summer vacation with the kids would intrude. And it did, but I got so much done before school let out that it just didn't matter. In a week I'll be heading for Glasgow, for a week. What will that be like?

My only complaint is that the Glasgow conference has turned September into an untidy mess of a month, interrupting half a dozen tasks just as they get underway. But I'll cope and having time to work alone at home will be wonderful. Oh, yes!

May this sabbatical be satisfying to my spirit, mind and body. The last one left me restless and discontent. This will be different.

Comment 2023

1998, and only my second sabbatical. They are supposed to be every seventh year. But I taught for twelve years before my first one, if you count my five years as an instructor. (They didn’t, obviously.) Then I changed departments and ended up at the end of the line for sabbatical leave, and waited 12 more years. The first sabbatical was spent writing a book that was finished but never published, unless you count the bootleg pdf that mysteriously showed up on Amazon. This one was spent working on a state-wide “web initiative in teaching”, learning how to transform in-person courses into online ones. It was fun and I was very, very good at it. 

2009

Linger as I leave. Lean forward as I arrive. The first day of school. #haiku

2017

Back to thinking about culture as a two-way mirror. Not a lens, not the water in a goldfish bowl. I think it can work for the “why” part of the introduction.

Today’s Tarot: 2 of Discs, reversed.

“She doesn’t want to have a very complicated life now.”

True that.

2023

It turns out that sabbaticals are excellent rehearsals for retirement. The lack of routine, especially. I like having just enough routine that I don’t have to buy day-of-the-week panties.