Settling in for a new semester of work in the midst of what seems to be a dangerous storm of turmoil, both personally and in the world I see around me. Still, attention to what sits before me:
- I will be spending the next few weeks attending to the medical needs of The Triathlete, who will be having some major surgery next week to confront a very real cancer risk. We are glad to take a decisive step, but a surgery is what it is, and will require some time for recovery.
- I have some pretty significant academic opportunities open to me if I can remember to keep disciplined enough to write and research on a regular basis. The regular effort has been the thing that has bedeviled me for my entire academic career.
- This institution is in for a nail-biting year, and I expect all kinds of panicked initiatives, such as the all-day workshop to be held tomorrow, to distract us from the teaching and research we need to be doing. It is immensely frustrating, but I must grit my teeth and participate so that I can offer the critique that I expect to be justified.
- I’ve recommited myself to spiritual and emotional engagement with the children, especially as I realize that their childhood won’t last forever. Number One sometimes acts like a child . . . but then there are those moments when he is not one at all. I don’t want to miss out. I may be a pushover.
- I’ve withdrawn almost completely from social media platforms, especially Facebook (I gave up on Twitter years ago). I recognize that I don’t have the time or the energy to devote to them that I once did, and do not have the desire to contribute to their business model of noise. There is a kind of loss I feel, especially because I know I’ll lose contact with many people who have been important to me, but the software experience, and the discourse the platforms seem to generate by their nature, has put me off for good, thinking of interaction with them as a chore rather than an opportunity.
- Exercise? indeed?
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