Hoping the Winter Caps Can Be Retired for the Year (Types an Optimist Knowing We're Never in the Clear Until May)

Yesterday was Shirl's birthday, and we had an outside gathering in the sun frolicking with bottles of water, shrimp, vegetables, and grilled chicken. An hour, quickly turned into an afternoon, and I am grateful. It's been a short while since sitting on a porch hearing laughter and feeling a warm sun on my skin. I arrived a little tense with piles of materials to be graded, sculpted, and assessed, but the spring sun was much more inviting. And I still got to all the materials before I turned on the tube for the Syracuse game. 

I realized, too, I had a photo from earlier in the week when I noticed someone put a toboggan on the James J. Bowler, S. J., sculpture outside the library. I love this sculpture: the seated position, the beard, and the nest with a wing being raised to the sky. The knitted cap just added a little more flare, because even a remarkable spiritual guide like Bowler, and his influence on campus, deserves a warm head. Of course, this is when it was chillier and before the Stars of Bethlehem began to bloom in yards across Connecticut. 

Howdy, Sunday. I see the rain, and recognize the temperatures will be dropping this week. I told Chitunga I was going to power clean while he was away, and I'm hoping that will come as soon as I'm done typing this note to kick-start my day. I did sweep, clean the kitchen, and pick up some. Teaching is messy. It's impossible. It's everything. And piles prove it. But where to store them until the University opens back up to faculty and I can store everything there?

Meanwhile, I also organized the winter gloves, hats, and scarves. The coat closet is good to go, but there's also boxes from two grants than need to be delivered to locations once all this lifts - it's not my stuff; it's materials from others that needs to be put away in their spaces). 

Ai Ai. Ai. No use complaining. I wonder if I can find a local baker with a cinnamon roll to go with my coffee?