1980
Now I really must get back to work! My classes are in gear and my thesis is at the typist, and there is more work to do. It’s a little difficult to get started. My new officemate at least has a fresh start here. I have so much baggage left over from last year.)
1988
Whew! The year is underway, at last. Kiddo 1 is in a 2/3 combination class with a teacher she already adores. She is more excited and enthusiastic about school than I have seen in a long time, and that is great to see. Mrs. W has a good reputation for being creative, organized, and interested in math (yay!). Looks like we lucked out.
I met with my class for the first time, and we had a very lively discussion. Lots of fun and good ideas, which has made me less worried about the course (a little). I’ll feel better when I have taught the course once through. I also met with the new dean this afternoon, which turned out to be a very pleasant experience. She’s just a few years older than I am, with three children (the youngest is four). We share some of the same views on the future of Human Ecology, and really hit it off. She’s the sort of administrator I could even be friends with.
Now if she’d only make me the associate dean. (Ambition rears its ugly head.)
1997
My first busy weekend of the school year…yet I managed to make it somewhat relaxed. By using the time that Kiddo 1 is in class to go for a swim, and by saying “no” to an acquaintance’s anniversary party. Which would have been nice, but just one more thing to do. Time management is mostly weeding.
2016
Labyrinth (poem)
I used to joke that I wrote a poem a decade. That should make them easy to remember, right? So it was a bit unsettling to find this poem tucked in an old notebook, dated July 2007. I have no recollection of writing it, and no idea what was on my mind at the time. Apparently I penned it after walking the then-new labyrinth at the University of Maryland.
Labyrinth
My arms ache for you,
Your youth
Your giddiness
Your serious facade
Your tears
I ache to hold you
hug you
comfort you
I held you in the wordless night,
My fingers tracing your fingers and wiping your tears,
gathering in your frayed ends.
My arms enfolding your fragile soul.
Eyes memorizing your skin and hair.
Eyes meeting yours and diving deep within.
Who can hold you now?
Who can look into your heart?
Only you.
I promise this:
Your arms will be warm enough.
Your touch will be gentle.
Your eyes will be caring.
Your voice will be strong enough.
To hold a child against your loving heart,
To sing love songs to the lonely world.
To love yourself
To hold yourself
and then another...and another...and another.
2017
Yesterday was an excellent day. I got up early with Jim, drove him to work, and then went to Steppingstone Farm to meet with the curator to discuss helping out with their collection. I ended up spending about 90 minutes moving their costume collection to new storage. Then I drove home, stopping for fried cod and hushpuppies (!!) at Maryland House. When we got home, I did an interview with a Dutch journalist and pink and blue (what else?).
2023
Gack! Another day in the nineties. I consolidated all my errands for the week and jammed them into yesterday, so today I get to stay in the AC. Today is opening day for Jawan, the latest movie from my age-appropriate movie star crush. I have tickets for Sunday, hubba hubba. Maybe I need to warm up with one of his other movies before then… Jab Harry Met Sejal? Chennai Express? Chalte Chalte? Or just the hotel scene from Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna on a loop?
My favorite was remembering feeling rejected by a former love, and then reading notes from the time that he wanted to marry me, and I said no.
Enjoyed the poem! And “my thesis is at the typist”--a different world.