Usually we don’t get snow that sticks until well into November, but last night a foot of heavy wet snow fell. Toom me almost two hours to get home because the roads were blocked by jackknifed trucks. We lost power overnight, but it came back on around five this morning. When we went outside we saw that an old trapdoor on our deck had collapsed, so we can’t let the terriers out there until we get it covered up. Tree limbs are broken & the top of an oak tree out back is bent over and cracked. It’s still snowing, but much less now, so I will probably go in and meet my 4:00 class today. The forecast says this will begin to melt out tomorrow with temperatures in the 40s this weekend, but I went out this morning and spread sunflower seeds on the snow for the groundfeeding birds — I saw from the window a little flock of juncos looking desperate.
Monthly Archives: October 2008
RYS Turns Three
That’s Rate Your Students for those of you not in the know. Started by a frustrated college professor in response to the site that shall not be named, RYS allows academics to tell horror stories about their students, from the precious snowflake who just can’t possibly get anything less than an A to the smelly athlete who stinks up the whole classroom. It’s a non-academic site for academics. The stories and responses, posted anonymously, come from academics all over the US — kind of a national barroom where faculty meet at the end of the week. Actually, I think more students should read the site — it would provide them with the clarity of a different perspective. For faculty, well, diatribe and invective are useful psychological techniques — the purpose of RYS is to keep our heads from exploding. At least in public.
Nuthatches & Hairy Woodpecker
I put the bird feeders up this weekend and dumped the dirt out of the big ceramic pots I grow herbs & peppers in during the summer. Took the screes down and put them in the shed & stacked the wooden deck chairs under a tarp. I’ve still got a few more things to button down in the yard, but the fall chores are nearly done. The first day there were no takers (that I saw) on the feeders, but yesterday as I was out working I saw a pair of nuthatches making regular trips between the feeder & the pine. Elegant little birds. Then, later, a hairy woodpecker put in an appearance. I feel very satisfied in the fall most years & this year especially so. My life is easy now, though it wasn’t always so. The thing about an easy life is that it requires responsibility. No one deserves an easy life — or everyone does — but if you’re luck you should do something with your luck. I mean me, of course. What is it Camus says in The Rebel? That what you wish for yourself you must wish for everyone.
Hermit Thrush
One of these little guys has been hanging out in the dogwood tree outside my study window, plucking the last of the berries, then flitting up to the high branches of the pine to catch the sun. He spent a good ten minutes going back and forth this morning before heading deeper into the woods.
John McCain Thinks We Have Too Much Health Care as it Is
So this obviously won’t be a problem. Well, not for him — he has the best health insurance money can by. For the rest of us, he thinks we ought to be able to get by on five grand a year. Oh, and the free market will reduce costs so much that that five thousand dollars (for a family, only $2500 if you’re single) will make insurance affordable.