Double-decker

I was on campus briefly this morning but people kept asking, "Why aren't you home in bed?"

Okay, folks, I can take a hint: I'm home, but I'm not in bed. Lying down is a problem. It's easier to breathe sitting up, so I move around from chair to chair trailing clouds of used tissues. In fact, the unexpected sunshine inspires me to sit out on the deck surrounded by all the detritus of a severe allergy attack: tissues, tea, chapstick, Vicks VapoRub. My only concern is that my nose is so red it might startle the birds.

So why bother going to campus at all if I have no finals to give and I'm feeling so awful? The final faculty meeting of the year is scheduled for right about now and I ought to be presiding but it's impossible to call a meeting to order without a voice, so I went to campus to hand over all the materials for today's meeting to one of my helpful colleagues, who echoed the universal question: "Why aren't you home in bed?"

It seems oddly appropriate that I'm too sick to preside at my final meeting as Faculty Chair. Two years ago I sat out on my deck griping over my inability to preside over my first meeting after being elected (read it here), but then I was struggling with the side effects of chemotherapy and I had to come to terms with letting others fill my shoes for the semester. Now here I am two years later in the same chair on the same deck missing my final meeting and my only regret is that I won't have an opportunity to thank all the people who helped me get from that point to this one. Even if I had the energy to stand in front of the faculty today, they'd be so blinded by the glare from my red nose that they wouldn't be able to focus on my pathetic little croaking voice.

So I'll put it in writing: Thanks, everyone. Thanks a million. Couldn't have done it without you. Now if you'll excuse me, I"ll go out on the deck and scare the birds.