We've reached the point in the semester when a lot of things that looked like really good ideas back in August now appear to be utterly foolish. What made me think I'd want to fill these bleak November evenings reading students' annotated bibliographies? Who thought analyzing 9/11 literature would make a rewarding experience when night falls just a little after lunchtime? And teaching at 8 a.m.--what was I thinking?
This morning my car was encased in ice, the valley was socked in with fog, and my head was full of phlegm, still, two weeks after I started feeling rotten. I can go for hours at a time without a cough but once the coughing starts, everything else stops, including sleep.
But I stopped coughing long enough to make a quick visit to the grandkids, simply because I needed some liveliness and color in my life in the bleak pre-winter. I'm pleased to report that my youngest grandchild has precociously mastered two important words: Why and No! I need to remind myself to use these words more often while I'm planning my syllabi and course schedules, and the primary person to whom I need to address them is myself. Thinking of teaching an 8 a.m. freshman class? No! Why?!! NO NO NO!! And then I need to hit myself over the head with a baseball bat until the temptation passes.
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