Night's Arrival

I can hardly believe it is the 1st of February. This is my last week before returning to the campus--next week I will work long days in the Writing Center the final week of winter session and then on Tuesday, February 16, the spring semester will begin. This Friday I will report in for a Faculty Development Day. One of my best friends, Dr. Arend Flick, is in charge of Faculty Development, and I'm certain that he has a quality day planned. Someday I'll blip a story about him. He is one of the nicest people I have ever met. He and I shared an office for about 8 years when the campus was new and faculty members did not have their own private offices.

This was a day off for Mr. Fun and we did something that we almost never do -- we slept in, but not on purpose. I think we are both absolutely exhausted; I think more mentally than physically. Seeing Mr. Fun's brother yesterday in a "rest home" for elderly people and knowing that he is soon going to die is for the 2 of us quietly devastating.

We are both fully aware that David is paying the consequences of living fast and loose -- too much drugging and too much drinking. We can compartmentalize that in our minds, but our hearts are not as easily dealt with. David is such a nice guy. He is so talented; actually, he's very gifted. Music and art have always been his forte. He makes fabulous music and he does the same with paint on canvas or pen & ink on paper. He's also been a great handyman and builds lovely things in a backyard as well as growing lovely flower gardens.

My sister emailed to thank us for the vacation in our home and for the trip to Grammie Teele's old house and the shopping excursions this past week. So she's home, getting back into a routine, and as far as she is concerned, all is well. I'm glad she arrived home safely. She reported that it was exactly 1035 miles from our front door to hers. Things are getting back in order here and quieting down. The memory of our week together isn't yet neatly packed away, but I hope that, as many memories do, it will swell with sweetness as it is looked at from a distance when the future becomes the present.

As daylight was dwindling, I tallied what I had accomplished today, and it wasn't much. If I were graded on achievement today, I'd earn an F. Okay maybe a D- since I did answer one email from a colleague new to our staff who wanted to see what my course syllabus looks like. I must have accomplished something else, but I sure can't figure what it was -- oh yeah, I filled-in the registration form for this coming summer's family camp on Catalina Island and put it in the mail. Oh, I also took this photo as proof that night was arriving. Other than this, my camera was neglected all day.

I'm exhausted. Thank you to all who have written the encouraging uplifting comments these past few days . . . it's helpful to know that I'm normal, either that, or we're all weird! ;-)

Good night from a very tired blipper!
Rosie (& Mr. Fun), aka Carol (in Southern California)