June 25
Travel memories; dreaming of Star Island; dreaming ON Star Island.
1966 (en route to Mexico City from Connecticut)
Must be short!
Lost S and Mrs. D for 4 hours, finally found them. Two old people in a car were stuck on the RR track, we pushed their car off.
Another Ramada Inn. Mini golf and pool.
My own room! Green. Lovely.
1 AM
1984
Back at home already. The weather has been nice now, and a great relief from the heat of Georgia. I can't say that the last few days have been pleasant otherwise, though. Mom's been touchy, Kiddo has been clingy, and Jim's been sick. How to avoid letting Mom push my buttons? That's a challenge! It's time to encourage more independence in Kiddo. She needs it, I think. In my rush to get things done quickly I too often end up doing things for her. Ironic. In the long run, it would take less time if she could do more things herself.
Primary goal… Learn to relax/re-create myself. Clean out my schedule, just like I've cleaned out the attic.
1985
This week and next will be very busy. I’m still enjoying the craziness in the morning partly because 2-5 pm is a nice, slow time. Too bad I can’t be home that early more often. I read the paper, watch Sesame Street with Kiddo, cook dinner. Very pleasant.
Jim and I had a talk about baby 2 a few nights ago. Basically he said another child would be fine, or one would be fine. Either is fine with him. Mostly he worries about $$. It was very enlightening. My life has changed much more than his because of Kiddo, and I know I would bear the brunt of the disruption.
Hmmmmmm.
1991
Despite the Byzantine politics in the department, I remain optimistic that most of us will survive this. I don’t think the College of Agriculture is the right place for us. Health and Human Performance looks better. The logistics are all so complicated!! There’s this way, that way, Plan A, B, C…Z. How about Consumer Sciences in HHP, Textile Science in Materials Engineering?
2003
Back in the library for a dip in the secondary literature on undergraduate research papers. This is turning out to be very interesting. Just enough literature to give me food for thought and interesting directions, but not so much that the field looks overworked.
2009
A couple of days ago, someone tried to give me a free t-shirt, and I turned it down. I am attending my denomination's annual General Assembly, an event that is full of energy and earnest enthusiasm for Doing the Right Thing. It's an election year this time around; we are choosing the person who will lead the denomination for the next four -- and possibly eight -- years, and that means all the usual campaign folderol. Each candidate has official buttons and t-shirts, given out free to supporters.
Here's the catch: I am not a fan of single- or limited use items, especially not clothing. I am also not a fan of conventional cotton t-shirts made under unknown working conditions. So I passed on the t-shirt. Being a Nice White Lady who is not inclined to lecture enthusiastic, well-meaning strangers, I also passed on the lecture running through my head (and now into this blog -- oh, well). But if either of these candidates had offered more subtle t-shirt designs, badges or buttons that were made of recycled or sustainable materials, fair trade souvenirs or something other than disposable, wasteful gewgaws, they'd have an edge with me. And stop with the daily campaign newsletters, already.
But I do appreciate the opportunity to use "folderol" and "gewgaws".
2011
Exciting news! The book is now listed in the Spring 2012 Indiana University Press catalog, with a release date of March 22 (my brother Bob's birthday, which makes it extra special)! I expect to be doing the final FINAL revisions between now and mid-July.
2017
It's a very odd coincidence. The first day of my retirement will be the twenty-fifth anniversary of the elimination of the Department of Textiles and Consumer Economics at the University of Maryland. The TXCE department was my home for my first sixteen years of my career at Maryland, first as an instructor on a one-year contract, then as a graduate student, and then as permanent faculty. My last year of the department was as acting department chair, or as I think of it, captain of the Titanic. My duties for the first half of the year were to try to convince a very fractured and contentious faculty to try to preserve some part of our programs. Having failed that, my job for the second half was to negotiate new placements for my sixteen colleagues and myself, and develop a plan for making sure all of our 500 undergraduate majors and 60 graduate students would finish their degrees. I have nursed a fantasy of turning the saga into a murder mystery. What I did write, at the time, was a newsletter article for a professional organization setting out my thoughts on the process and the question of "surviving" departmental reorganization. I think a few people listened.
Comment 2023
My friend Vince gave me this lapel pin to wear to meetings while I was acting chair of my poor doomed department.
2019 (Star Island)
Jim arrives today. I am guessing his ETA is between 1030 and 11. I am feeling much better. No fever now. But I am feeling pretty weak, having not eaten all day.
The man near me is lecturing. He sure does go on. I am not ready to write yet. Maybe after breakfast, I will have more energy.
Make that two breakfasts. I had French toast and sausage and then a bowl of cereal with whole milk. I'm making up for yesterday. So I was wrong about the boat time. He wasn't on a 930 boat, it was the 1230 boat. And now he's been shifted to the Utopia, a smaller, faster boat that leaves at one. But he's hoping to catch the environmental tour at two. With luck, it won't be raining by then. The morning discussion was interesting. Kemp started with “Wade in the Water”, with the verses using the names of the candidates for president, and we'd answer with the chorus response. Then we shared ideas and opinions about the election. Sounds awful, and at first, I thought, “oh geez, and me so far from the exit. "But it was mostly interesting and occasionally enlightening. A good exercise in listening. Everyone was very respectful and kind. I certainly feel better now than I did yesterday. Can't decide about choir; the pieces are a bit of a challenge for me, and Thursday and Friday will be chair caning days. So, oh well.
It was warm and sunny at breakfast, so much that I ditched my scarf and then my sweater. But now it is overcoat overcast and cooler, the air getting damper. Rain is forecast, and I am hoping it isn't as dramatic as Saturday night’s gully washer. But it's Star Island, whatever the weather, and I'm loving it. I wish I could fill myself up with the sights and sounds and smells and be able to tap into that reservoir whenever I needed it. There's something about this porch, these chairs, this view, that is exactly what my soul craves when I am worried or anxious. The Star Island Bubble is real, and I wish I could stay in it longer. The swoop of the barn swallows, their chattering cries, the open beaks of the nestlings, soaring gulls who somehow manage to lift off effortlessly. It's as if the simple thought “I will fly now” lifted them off the ground.
Oh it is raining.
Comment 2023
One of the things I enjoy doing on Star Island is repairing the woven rattan seats on the porch rockers. I learned to do it the first time I visited, almost ten years ago, and joined work crews every year until 2019. It’s easy work. In nice weather we haul our chairs onto the porch and work there, listening to the gulls and people chatter. And when you’re done, you claim your seat!
2024
The gang’s all here, and then some. This week’s conferences are larger, and have lots of kids and babies. I was rocking and knitting on the porch this morning, serenaded by three infants. They were having a nice time until one started to squall and then the other two joined in, one by one, in sympathy.
Still, it’s a lovely place to be. Yesterday I did yoga, a writing workshop, and a nap. Last night, not much of a sunset, but oh, the clouds!
