In the midst of a week crammed full of class preparations, meetings, and sudden unexpected hiring of adjuncts, I received a phone call from UPS informing me that they'll be delivering a package tomorrow between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. and someone needs to be at home to sign for it.
So it looks like I'll be staying home tomorrow, but I don't mind. I brought my laptop home and I have all the info I need to work on my final syllabus, and I don't have any more meetings until Thursday. And besides, I'll be delighted to stay home and wait for UPS since they're delivering MY NEW CAMERA!!!!!!!!! (Oops, it's a little early in the year to use up my annual quota of exclamation points....better calm down.)
Lest you think that I'm a tad too excited about this event, I have my reasons. First, my current camera is 15 years old and served me well during my years as a journalist, but it has a serious light leak and Nikon doesn't make the parts for that model anymore. Second, photography has been a serious hobby of mine for going on 30 years and I can't imagine greeting the spring birds and wildflowers without camera in hand. And finally, this camera will enable me to do something I haven't done in nearly a decade: take a college class.
I've been eager to take this class for some time. It's listed as a 300-level biology class, but the title is Scientific Imaging and it is taught by an expert in bird and insect photography. The class will refine my skills in nature photography, introduce some interesting software, and help me to view nature through a scientific lens.
This last goal is important because I am part of a group of three faculty members who will attend the College English Association conference in March to present a panel on how cross-disciplinary experience influences our practice and teaching of creativity. Last semester, a creative writing professor and fiction writer took a drawing class, and this semester, an art professor is taking creative writing. The Scientific Imaging class will give me experience with various methods of observing and representing nature, which ought to spark creative ideas as I design a summer special topics course in writing about nature.
With so many good things depending upon the arrival of this camera, I'm happy to stay home and await the special delivery. Freezing rain and ice are in the forecast, but as far as I'm concerned, tomorrow will be a picture-perfect day.
1 comment:
That's exciting! YAY!!!!!! (There, so your exclamation points won't feel lonely!)
I'd love to take a nature photography class!
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