Sunday, March 31, 2013

Savannah approaches

After a lovely afternoon yesterday fishing and biking in Jefferson National Forest, today is not as pleasant. Duke lost, my hike was in a mist, and my cough remains. I did fix the crack in the side window protectors and I washed the sheet and pillow cases in the truck for my trip to Savannah on Wednesday. I dread grading right now but I am getting through it. I can’t wait for the semester to end. It is clear I am going to have to work for three more years but that is not that far away. The greenhouse is doing very well, coltsfoot is back in bloom and the witch hazel is ready to bloom. I still have 8% in the main propane tank and that should hold out until I return from Savannah if I don’t get a delivery. On Wednesday, I might try to switch to the 100 gallon tank if there hasn’t been a delivery. I had a nice time at Jeff’s 60th birthday party on Friday. Haven’t heard from Gyorgyi but I hope she is doing well. I finally talked to my Aunt Marie and she is fine. I told her that I would be glad to visit her at Pat’s on my way up to New York. I promised to stay 2 days.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

another week of teaching

I am backing up all my computer files in the Starbucks in Salem and it is a cold and bright Friday. I have finished a difficult week of teaching mainly because of my own mistakes but at least it is over. I have midterms to grade from two classes and some journals and poems but it shouldn’t be too hard to do. I am going to see Jeff tonight for his birthday and tomorrow I will go to the seder at Rob’s. I watched a lot of NCAA basketball last night with the big upset being Harvard beating New Mexico. I also watch the Heat come back from 27 points and beat Cleveland, a remarkable comeback. It was their 24th straight victory. My greenhouse plants came up but I hope the cold doesn’t kill them. Joyce called me and it sounds like we will be playing golf in Goose Creek and then on Hilton Head island. Rosemary is going to have Loren do the Coleman copying so that will save me a lot of time. My cough is still with me and I will talk to Rob about it if it doesn’t get better as it warms up. I e-mailed Kate my Fishermen for Gun Control and I think she liked it.




Sunday, March 17, 2013

a good trip south

My trip to Charlotte and to Columbia is almost over. I will stay in Huntersville tonight, and perhaps play Birkdale tomorrow, then drive up for my office hours at three. I had a fine dinner with Becky on Friday at Upstream and we chatted for a couple of hours. The next morning I drove to the Congaree National Park and had a lovely bike ride and hike, then ate in the Vista. I stayed at the wingate on two notch and then on Saturday morning I met Marv and Joyce for golf at Windermere, a first class Pete Dye-designed course. We played 18 holes and my shoulder wasn’t too bad. I shot a 52 and then a 48 on a very dry and sloping course where the ball rolled a mile in very unpredictable ways. Marv shot a 92 and Joyce was about 110. I treated them to golf so they treated me to dinner at Motor Supply Bistro and that was very good. Sunday found me back biking and hiking at Congaree and then having lunch in the Vista at Mellow Mushroom. After a quick walk I drove to Charlotte where I will have dinner and another walk and then hit the bad weather up in Radford tomorrow. A very good trip overall.

Monday, March 11, 2013

finally the road is fixed

It is Monday early afternoon and I am in Starbucks up in Salem. I finished staining my two part microwave shelf and I fixed the road up completely, evening it all out and repairing the two water bars. I also trimmed off the excess dirt by the spring and that should help with the rutting. With the chainsaw work David and I did yesterday (over four hours) the road looks great with all the fallen trees trimmed and several of the standing trees that were leaning also cut. I used my chainsaw to cut the stuff David felled and I haven’t worked that hard in five years. David will be back in a few weeks to do the coneflower habitat and perhaps start on the Ailanthus. I also played golf yesterday and shot a 46. It was nice not to wear a jacket for a change. I am sure it helped my score. It was also fun to watch Tiger play well and win easily. I sent Marilyn Francis my piece on the change in my fishing habits and it is a nice little essay. The 321 midterm was pretty awful. Many of the students didn’t address the question on Kafka, creating their own answers. The highest grade is an 83 so far. I fished the North Fork again and had no luck but it was fun to fish downstream from my gate.

Friday, March 8, 2013

spring break starts

It is Friday at 8:20 and my spring break has begun. I did a lot of stuff out in the hollow, including fertilizing the fruit trees and the asparagus, running the lawn tractor to charge the battery, clearing the stickers around the shed, fixing the angle of the bike rack so both wheels will be level (the front one was getting mud on it all the time), and taking a long hike up to the orchard three times. I watched some golf with Tiger playing well and then went and played and after an awful start (mainly because of my heavy jacket, which I ditched for my lighter, newer one) ended up with a 49. I then went to ride my bike for 8 miles along the New River in Radford, then dinner and a nap. I think I have overdone it a bit. Yesterday I had some spinach from the greenhouse (the stuff still growing from the fall) and it was very good. After all the freezing temperatures, it is pretty amazing to be still growing well. I have replaced all the things that needed to be replaced (waders, wading shoes, and goretex jacket), so I should be fine for a long time. I don’t have too much to do for my classes over the break so I decided not to do anything today but I may do a little tomorrow. I did have two full nights of sleep after taking tart cherry juice but the third night didn’t work. We will see about tonight.

Sunday, March 3, 2013

a quick trip to Charlotte

I am in my office having finished and printed out my 321 midterm. I took care of a few other small things and I am going to shop a bit and then go to dinner and then Rob’s to walk the dogs. It was too cold to go walking this morning but I did ride the bike and do my weights and yoga. I graded a good bit and watched Miami edge New York in bball. I went down to Charlotte on Friday so I could escape the cold weather up here, and though I did get to play golf at Birkdale, the weather changed and I ended up driving back on Saturday after an early morning walk through downtown Charlotte. It looks like I will not be going down to Charleston for spring break since the weather up here looks very good. I will save some money and do some fishing, maybe up to meadowlane. My new waders and wading shoes fit perfectly—no more cramped feet and thin socks. My new bike worked very well and I hope it does not cause me any problems for at least a few months. I planted some lettuce and peas but the cold snap may prevent them from sprouting. I still have some lettuce and spinach growing from the fall. I watched Duke beat Miami on Saturday night up at Jeff’s and it was fun to chat with Jeff and Rachel and play with Benjamin (who kissed me on the leg when I left, which was very sweet. My aunt Marie is doing much better so that is good news.