Container Wednesday--Sorta

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For Carson's "Container Wednesday," I took the above photo last week. But I also took the photo to demonstrate the difference between myself and my neighbours. The bike shown above is "my container"--my "wheels". This is how I get to campus, which is about ten blocks away. Below, you'll find the photo of my neighbour's "container"--his "wheels": this is how he rides to get to the campus which is, again, ten blocks away.




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I'm not sure what he encounters on his drive that requires such big tires, but apparently, he's gotta be ready for the extreme--that seems to be the Texan way (for many, anyways).

The photo is taken from our porch, and you can see the school yard that is across from us. Notice there are no play structures in the school yard. A litigious culture gets you this type of school playground. Seriously, it's an elementary school (where a very famous singer went to school in fact) and there isn't a single play structure because parents sue the school board.

You'll also notice that in the photos above, taken last week, you can see some of my geranium and marigold blooms. (I choose geraniums and marigolds this year because these are always the flowers found on my parents front steps, and it makes me think always of home-- :)

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In any case, that was last week. Below, is this week:

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Yep. That's right. In Texas, you don't get snow in April, you get ice rain. How pleasant. It seems that between the dust storms and the ice storms and the 90 degree (35 degree?) weather of the past week or two, the Apocalypse is fast approaching this place.

So with that, I wish you all a very Happy Spring.

Now let me go look outside to see if the Black Plague and the locusts have begun to mark their arrival yet....

Because Cara Asked: A Photo Journey of My Weekend

Cara, famous Cara of January One, poses the question: "How was your weekend?"

I thought it would be rude not to answer her question. So, here for you all, is My Weekend--all its thrills, spills, and chills. (Whatever that means?)




This weekend, I had MUCHO grading to do. So, I started it off, as any sane teacher would do, with a Bloody Mary and the beginnings of the infamous Mason-Dixon Warshrag.



I must admit, I sat a little bit too long on the sunny porch (before the incessant rains began!), sipping the drink and knitting the rag. (Why does writing that--"knitting the rag"--sound so offensive?)



But despite this relaxing start to the weekend, most of my weekend was spent indoors, grading furiously (that is, furiously as in a frenzied state to finish 60 papers, AND furiously, as in how could my college students--some of them SENIORS!--not know how to use a comma, a semi-colon, even an apostrophe?!?!?!) Needless to say, I looked like the photo above most of the weekend--unshowered, pulling out my hair, feeling like I was in a state of agony.



Our black-cat-from-hell, on the other hand, felt just fine while grading his papers. Calm, cool, collected. Nothing to it.



So I wouldn't die from the boredom/frustration/agony of grading 300 pages of sophomore literary criticism, I broke up the day by cooking one of my favourite meals: hey! it's not procrastination, people. One must eat, and therefore, one must spend 1.5 hours preparing Chicken Saffran & Fennel Stew (or Ragout, as "the French" would say, and really, it sounds better than "stew") with Baby Potatoes. AND I made homemade baking-powder biscuits. AND I made brownies. AND I really didn't want to continue grading...



But the papers got done. It was brutal, but they are back in the hands of the students who have probably already smashed them--filled as they are with all my useful comments, suggestions, corrections--into their knapsacks, never to be looked at again, already forgotten.

Just think, in three weeks, it gets to happen all over again. What fun!

Oh well, at least we ate well. Oh yeah, and the warshrag got done too. It was MUCHO fun.

Looking Back. Looking Forward.

Thank you to all who left comments of condolesences for my partner and me over the loss of our dog. I am going to respond to each of your individually over the weekend, because I'll have some free time to do so soon. But for now please know that each comment meant so much--

So it's 2007, is it? Like so many of you, I have big plans and small plans for the year, in the hopes of making 2007 a year marked by change and calm, goodnesss and beauty, progress and rest, friendship and love, creativity and trust, and in all that, taking big, mindful, deep breaths. Most of all, for this year, I want to concentrate on the idea of truth, kindness and honesty--in everything I do and am. But before I get into detailing those things--how I want to put those ideas concretely into action--I want to share with you first where the end of 2006 took me:



Here's the road leading to my family's farm, and thus, the road back to my Canadian home for the holiday break. It was good to find myself back in a place of peace, of calm, surrounded by loved ones, and by a country of citizens who (mainly) believe in human rights such as health care--



And so, we found ourselves doing "typical" Canadian activities: icefishing, for one thing, in the valley.

(Here's what that same valley looked like just six months earlier)

Sleigh-riding, for another. It was a good, restful time, for the most part, and we managed to do many things that helped us, as a family, reconnect--including celebrating my parents' 50th wedding anniversary.

Also, I managed to finish (nearly) the EZ sweater, which is good considering the new young girl, Sophia, has now been born.

I just need to cast off, block it, and sew on the buttons. For those of you who recall the start of this sweater, you'll notice how I choose to handle the shortage-of-yarn issue. I simply began all over again, with new yarn altogether (ssshhhh! it's just Caron's Simply Soft acryllic yarn--@1.50/skein!!!)

Waiting in the wings (as pictured at the start of this post) is the start of the fabulous (and ubiquitous) My So Called Scarf, because heck! it's damn cold down here on the Panhandle Plains of the USA as well! So to ward off the unusual coldness of this Southern Panhandle climate, I've decided to take matters into my own hands, and create for my partner and myself our own fireplace in the fake fireplace of our rental home:

Making the best of the situation--creating beauty and warmth where before there was only a cold draft: this is just a minor start to my plans for the New Year. Onward, towards beauty, kindness, and honesty. Onward, to a life lived fully, hopefully, in creativity and warmth.

And I wish for all of you, the same. Happy New Year.