Thursday, October 30, 2008
Things That Make Me Happy
Made an early-morning trek through the grocery store today and the background music was playing Jim Boggia's "Listening to NRBQ" Such a wonderful song that so captures how special that band is. Nice way to start the day. Been humming it ever since.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Signs of the Apocolypse
It snowed today. With snowplows and everything. It's October.
A black man is about to be elected President of the United States.
I'm a little bit understanding microeconomics.
A black man is about to be elected President of the United States.
I'm a little bit understanding microeconomics.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Good Manners
So I spent the day on campus - the University of Massachusetts at Amherst to be exact. It's rare that I have an entire day to hang out and work on stuff - usually I just run to campus to go to a class or go to the library. I really like that I can see classmates who are here during the day and get more acquainted with the workings of the program I'm in - being a part-time student means you miss a lot.
Here's what I'm o.k. about missing - undergraduates napping the hallways, messy (really messy) bathrooms, sloppy tabletops in the dining halls and male undergraduates who spit all the time. Seriously - where do the manners go?
On the way home from the Cape last weekend, I heard an interview with a woman who just wrote a biography about Emily Post. I know that the perception is that she was all about which fork to use, but I was so impressed to hear that she was really all about manners being more about how you make others feel. A smile to welcome someone, holding the door open, sitting up straight. It's not at all pretentious - it's gracious.
Rumor has it that we're in a recession - that means that jobs will become scarce and new college grads will have some stiff competition for good jobs. Maybe someone who learned something from Ms. Post might have an edge over the slob who doesn't flush...
Anyway - here in the lovely, gracious Berkshires, fall has arrived and I'm inspired by the golden yellow leaves all over the yard and the nip in the air. Even made Butternut Squash and Apple Soup this weekend. It was the least I could do for my wonderful husband who raked acres of the aforementioned leaves... Forecast calls for snow showers tomorrow night!
Our life here is nearly perfect and very gracious ~ And I'm sitting up straight as I type.
Here's what I'm o.k. about missing - undergraduates napping the hallways, messy (really messy) bathrooms, sloppy tabletops in the dining halls and male undergraduates who spit all the time. Seriously - where do the manners go?
On the way home from the Cape last weekend, I heard an interview with a woman who just wrote a biography about Emily Post. I know that the perception is that she was all about which fork to use, but I was so impressed to hear that she was really all about manners being more about how you make others feel. A smile to welcome someone, holding the door open, sitting up straight. It's not at all pretentious - it's gracious.
Rumor has it that we're in a recession - that means that jobs will become scarce and new college grads will have some stiff competition for good jobs. Maybe someone who learned something from Ms. Post might have an edge over the slob who doesn't flush...
Anyway - here in the lovely, gracious Berkshires, fall has arrived and I'm inspired by the golden yellow leaves all over the yard and the nip in the air. Even made Butternut Squash and Apple Soup this weekend. It was the least I could do for my wonderful husband who raked acres of the aforementioned leaves... Forecast calls for snow showers tomorrow night!
Our life here is nearly perfect and very gracious ~ And I'm sitting up straight as I type.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Resilience
So after a *minor* homework meltdown on Sunday (yep - tears and all), Jeff and I took a walk on the beach. The Brewster bayside beaches are lovely and the tide was going out, revealing, I dunno, a hundred yards or so of the Brewster Flats.
So not long into our walk, I had forgotten about microeconomics entirely, and my attention was drawn to the really neat stuff - like the pearly-golden seashells and the snails dragging themselves along the ridges of sculpted sand. It seems each time I'm there I see something I've never seen before and I get lost in the magic.
What really got my attention, though, was this large tuft of seagrass - like a little island pretty far offshore. Jeff and I took a closer look and it was clear that it's far enough out that when the tide comes in, this grass must become submerged. Still it survives and thrives.
I couldn't help but draw inspiration - wouldn't it be nice if I could be more like that? I'd like to learn to thrive, even when I feel like I'm drowning. Then come through it all tall and strong...
So not long into our walk, I had forgotten about microeconomics entirely, and my attention was drawn to the really neat stuff - like the pearly-golden seashells and the snails dragging themselves along the ridges of sculpted sand. It seems each time I'm there I see something I've never seen before and I get lost in the magic.
What really got my attention, though, was this large tuft of seagrass - like a little island pretty far offshore. Jeff and I took a closer look and it was clear that it's far enough out that when the tide comes in, this grass must become submerged. Still it survives and thrives.
I couldn't help but draw inspiration - wouldn't it be nice if I could be more like that? I'd like to learn to thrive, even when I feel like I'm drowning. Then come through it all tall and strong...
Friday, October 3, 2008
Reflections
I'm here, on the Cape, taking a break from homework.
It's different - all of it. Being here alone, being here when it's not summer anymore. I could be at home - doing just what I'm doing now. It's probably the same temperature (maybe a little cooler), probably breezy, (maybe not as much as the Cape today). I wonder what made me want to drive all this way?
I stopped at the grocery store in Orleans, then the wine store in Brewster on my way home last evening. It's a small town now, with the weather changing and the vacationers gone home. Clerks are chatty - I guess they assume I live here too. It's nice that it's all getting familiar.
It's beautiful here - the breeze, the ocean nearby. It's beautiful at home in the Berkshires, too. The leaves are changing and the sky is really blue in the mornings. It's getting to be snuggle weather - we'll be having a fire in the fireplace soon.
It's pretty special - being able to be homesick for both places.
Now if it weren't for this microeconomics stuff I'm supposed to be learning... Did you know that people use really dumb criteria to make buying decisions (see Rational Choice Models). Probably no beach for me today.
It's different - all of it. Being here alone, being here when it's not summer anymore. I could be at home - doing just what I'm doing now. It's probably the same temperature (maybe a little cooler), probably breezy, (maybe not as much as the Cape today). I wonder what made me want to drive all this way?
I stopped at the grocery store in Orleans, then the wine store in Brewster on my way home last evening. It's a small town now, with the weather changing and the vacationers gone home. Clerks are chatty - I guess they assume I live here too. It's nice that it's all getting familiar.
It's beautiful here - the breeze, the ocean nearby. It's beautiful at home in the Berkshires, too. The leaves are changing and the sky is really blue in the mornings. It's getting to be snuggle weather - we'll be having a fire in the fireplace soon.
It's pretty special - being able to be homesick for both places.
Now if it weren't for this microeconomics stuff I'm supposed to be learning... Did you know that people use really dumb criteria to make buying decisions (see Rational Choice Models). Probably no beach for me today.
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