only four weeks left in the semester

It is the 30th of October, one day before my 62nd birthday, the date I could start collecting social security. It has been a busy two weeks and I have done a number of hikes, played golf a bit, traveled to Chincoteague last weekend, and had a number of evening hikes with Rob. The stain on the house is done although I am going to re-stain the back porch. The generator oil is changed and I charged the batteries to almost full (1250-1265). I have been eating lettuce and sugar snap peas from the greenhouse. My date with Susan was okay but I am not interested in seeing her again but I am willing to meet other women.

sixth week done

My sixth week of classes is done and I am doing pretty well. I don’t have much free time (outside of my exercise time) but the courses are going well and that is all that really matters. I had David out today and he is almost done with his fall work. One more day should do it. He made it clear that this will help cut back on the ailanthus but it certainly won’t eliminate them all. I walked up with him to the big poplar at the boundary and it was pretty rough since there is no trail but I made it okay without hurting my knee. I also took a hike this morning and checked the oil in the generator, ate a fine salad from the greenhouse, trimmed around the yard with the electric trimmer, sprayed the posts with termite spray, and fixed the storage netting in the cab. Earlier in the week I trimmed the road and up by the cabin so I am ready to cut the grass whenever I need to. I also straightened out the tractor barn and checked the battery water, which was fine. Gabriel wants to extend his loan a bit and I have to really sit down and figure things before I agree. Cathy is feeling much better and that is of course very good news. I had a nice hour playing with Sarah Morris’ 14 month old daughter Emma. I took her to the bowling alley and to the playground by the Waldron building. She is very sweel.

fifth week of teaching complete

My fifth week of teaching is done and it was a pretty good week. My two British Literary History II classes went well and my other classes were both okay. I took a trip to Big Stone Gap (which I had never seen) and overall it was a disappointment. I didn’t find any pretty little trout streams although I did fish the Clinch and the North Fork of the Holston. I didn’t even get a hit although I fished the Holston seriously. Instead of walking around a cute little town, I ended up at an Applebee’s in nearby Norton. I guess I am glad I finally got out that way. Everything in the hollow is fine. I have done some more road and orchard trimming and I have been eating lettuce from my greenhouse. I have replanted the spinach and I am hoping the second planting does a lot better. Cathy Gallo sounds much better and I am very glad. I was pretty worried about her.

fourth week of classes--still slightly sane

It is Friday the 20th of September and my fourth week of teaching is over. I had a good class on Keats and a decent class on introducing the Victorians so I feel a little better toward the Literary History course. My other classes are going well but I don’t have many decent poets in my Poetry Writing class. I have the house in good shape and I will try to cut the grass on Sunday. It rained heavily this morning and we really needed the rain. It is supposed to rain tomorrow and that will also be good. I will see Gyorgyi for dinner and a movie tomorrow and that should be fun. I have made my reservations for Wild Dunes for the 23-27 of December (where I will see Gabe and Francesca and Julian) and I paid for my Big Bend tickets today in Lynchburg. With the thousand dollar voucher the train trip will only cost me 339 dollars. It should be a fairly inexpensive trip. David is supposed to come on Sunday and start work on the ailanthus infestation and I hope the weather is okay. I should be eating fresh lettuce from the greenhouse this week although the spinach hasn’t worked out to much. I will replant tomorrow and give it another try. I talked to Rosemary about this semester and explained how hard the Literary History course is and I asked her to give me the American Literary History course next time. I do have a good schedule of the spring and that will make my life a lot less difficult. I talked to Dean O’Brien today and we had a nice chat. He is doing well and I will see him over Thanksgiving. Cathy Gallo isn’t doing too well but hopefully the antibiotics will help soon.

a very busy and stressful second week

My blogging will have to be pretty occasional with all the work I have to do this semester. 331, British Literary History, is killing me. TV dish and up by the solar panels. I played golf for the first time in a week since I have been so busy, and though me back was aching (I had to take some ibuprophen) I shot a 45 with some very lucky shots. I am riding my bike every day and I practiced my sax for the first time in a week this morning. My greenhouse is doing well with the peas at least six inches tall and a lot of lettuce up. I should be eating some within two weeks. I had a talk with Jeff but he refuses to admit that Edward Snowden is a criminal and there is really no point of discussion. Snowden clearly broke some major laws and to me the question is whether his criminal behavior is justified. There is no doubt he is a criminal. I am too busy to waste time trying to get Jeff to at least accept the facts of the case. My health continues good although I am tired a lot. Part of that is my irregular sleeping and part of it is the heat and the pollen, which is very high. I got Dougie the GED book and I offered to help him with any things he doesn’t understand. I think he really appreciates my offer. I will be glad to celebrate with him when he gets his GED. I got my first walk in this week this morning and the wildflowers are still blooming. I saw touch me not, white snakeroot, great lobelia, heal all, thin leaved coneflower, heart leaved aster, and several others. It was great to get in some aerobic exercise.

first week of classes finished

It is Friday, August 30th and my first week of classes is over. It was a pretty easy week and I should not be too pressed to prepare for next week, when the work really starts. My biggest problem is how tired I am and I hope when the weather gets cooler I will feel more energetic. I have lettuce and sugar snap peas up in the greenhouse and that is a comfort. The house is half stained and it looks very good but the color is so different that I am going to have Mark’s workers do the back porch and the deck. The new receiver from dish is working fine so that should last for a number of years. I have been riding every day on my new bike and I really like it. I also am doing regular walks in the morning and practicing my sax. I am also continuing with the yoga and weights. I have played golf a few times and on Wednesday I shot from the white tees and scored a 48. I do think I am playing well and should be able to give Craig a good challenge when we play next. My finances are holding steady but when Gabe pays me back some of the money, I will pay down my equity line debt a little. I have made reservations to go to New York for 4 days at Thanksgiving (planning to see Gabe, Francesca and Julian) but if I am too busy grading, I will have to pass on that trip.

The Students Move In

I actually slept pretty well last night (Thursday) and I was pretty rested when I awoke. I went to Radford and helped out with the students moving in and I did quite a bit of work, mainly getting stuff out of trucks and autos and then getting the vehicles down to Dedmon. I also sent my e-mail to Steger at VT to complain and the loud and violent movie last night fifty yards from the memorial to the shooting victims. The secretary I called thought I should send it. I have everything ready for the new semester and I hope I can handle it. If I don’t overcommit to things and stay on top of my classes, I should be okay. I pick up my new bike tomorrow and it will be great to go for a non-stationary ride again. I realize that if I retire I had better have very good plans to keep busy or I am going to be restless as hell. Kate and I talked a little about my novel and I don’t think it will work in its present incarnation. I think I need to make it humorous so that will be my goal.