I'm wearing my snowflake sweater today in hopes of encouraging the weather to do something more seasonable--like, for instance, send us some freakin' snow. I mean, why should Minnesota have all the fun? But instead I'm photographing tiny iris blossoms while the forecast calls for a high in the 70s tomorrow. In the middle of February. It's true that Spring is my favorite season, but can we have a little winter first?
The wintry mood inside campus buildings is also warming. True, it's still Axe Week: a small but significant group of faculty members will be told by Friday that their positions are being cut, and some departments are already scrambling to revise fall course schedules. But Monday's faculty meeting was much shorter than expected and bubbled with a giddy air of hope. The controversial motion for a vote of no confidence was withdrawn without a single murmur after news came out that a certain top administrator will be leaving the college by June. To pursue other opportunities, he says, for which I can only say pursue away.
It would be unseemly to rejoice while others are struggling, especially when this decision leaves us with lame ducks or interim administrators in a number of important positions while several other essential positions remain either unfilled or in flux. Our Faculty Chair reminded us on Monday that we'll all have to work together to help move the College forward, but we've never been afraid of hard work as long as it looked like it could get us somewhere. Times are tough but we can shoulder the burden as long as we see signs of hope, and now we do.
And I'm not just talking about a few early iris blossoms. Send us some snow--or send us some warmth--or send us a little bit of everything all at once--and somehow we'll figure out how to carry on.
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