finally Thanksgiving break

It is Friday, the 16th of November and I am off for Thanksgiving break. I have had Dennis Anderson, the forester with the department of forestry, out to evaluate the land and he agrees that getting rid of the Ailanthus is the major concern. I of course also want to protect the smooth coneflower. When I went up with Dennis, I saw, for the first time since July, how that July windstorm clobbered the left side of the right side hollow where some of the biggest and most beautiful trees were. I had Andrew come out from VOF to see if it would be possible to horse log the fallen trees and use the money for the Ailanthus eradication and thinning the forest where the coneflower is. He should get back to me shortly. I did my evaluations in the 203 and the graduate class. I am worried that the grad students didn’t give me a good evaluation but I guess there is no sense worrying now—I will find out soon enough. I still have to do my 454 class and I think I will get good marks from them. I cut the grass today (or rather I cut up the remaining leaves) and that should help the grass. I also took a hike this morning and fixed up things in the house so tomorrow I will be able to leave by noon and stay in Winchester. Then I plan to stay in Bethlehem, PA and that way I can be in NYC by 11 so I can spend the whole day there. I talked to John and we joked a bit and I will see him on Wednesday at 7:30. My stomach was pretty upset for the past week or so but yesterday it settled down and today it was fine. I must have had a virus of something. I have two not too bad weeks of teaching and then a week of finals (only two) and I am done for a month. I hope I can do some writing over the break. I did send my return to kayaking poem out to Floyd County Moonshine and I hope they use it. Walked last night with Rob and I will walk with him tonight. Fay and Noah are totally out of control and he isn’t sure what to do. There may not be much he can do.

fifth anniversary cancer free

Another Friday has come and this is a big one, the fifth anniversary of being clean from cancer. To celebrate it, I had a good dinner with Rob and Becky last night at Greens and I will also see them—and meet Becky’s daughters—on Sunday at 3. My graduate class went very well with a very good story and a fine poem, such a difference from the week before. The students were much more relaxed and so was I. I have made it clear what I want in the stories so I hope the good work continues. I talked with Herb this morning and he was very defensive about my fairly simply requests: no more handyman work, a visit from him and Susan, and a different view of my accomplishments at Parnassus (no more a “box carrying yokel from Staten Island” to “the first intern to write two pieces for the magazine. I did back off on my request for them to visit since it would require Herb to fly in a small plane into Roanoke even though he flew in a small plane to Albuquerque. He was rambling in his defensiveness but I think he understood the gist of my complaint. The paper I am going to deliver in Durham was pretty sloppy but I have almost finished revising it and it reads much better. I also sent in a proposal to give a paper in Savannah in April at CEA. Gloria may fly there to meet me. I played golf on Wednesday with the cold wind howling (43 degrees) and no one else on the course. But with my wonderful jacket I was able to shoot a 46, a pretty impressive score considering the conditions. Today I played again and it was almost as windy but warmer and I shot a 49. I played my sand wedge like a croquet mallet. I go my equity line for 180K and that should be enough to cover me until I retire. I sent Gabe a check so he should be able to expand his business, and I sent money to Americares and to Heifer.

good babysitting and good biking

It is Sunday and Hurricane Sandy approaches the mid Atlantic. It is a huge but not particularly powerful storm but it has the potential to cause massive flooding and power loss. We might get just the edge of it. Saturday proved productive as I did some tasks around the house, including trimming the butterfly bush so my northern trays in the greenhouse would get more sun. I also moved the tray of mixed lettuce to the southern side since it was doing very poorly. I couldn’t move the peas because the climbing strings are attached to the greenhouse but perhaps I will figure something out. I went to dinner with Jeff, Rachel and Benjamin (they treated) and then I babysat Benjamin at the Sufi dance at the Unitarian Church. We played a good deal and then he sat on my lap for almost a half hour munching on some crackers and watching the dancers. After that he was a little wild but overall easy to watch. Today I did more work around the house after a long hike in the morning. I ate another good salad from the greenhouse and did my weights and yoga. Chris returned my Tom Brown book and I called him later to wish him well and to invite him to visit. I drove into Bburg after calling Rob (no answer) and went for a long bike ride at the CRC. The weather was threatening but no rain appeared even though it was pretty cold. I wrote my graduate class and I hope they pay attention to the guidelines for a good story.

graduate problems and good fishing

It is Friday the 26th of October, Gabe’s birthday (which I did call him on), and just three days before I have access to my increased equity line. 20K will go to Gabe as a loan for his business and the other 8K will pay off my visa bill (approaching 5K), let me give 1K to charity, 1K to Jeff, and also pay off some miscellaneous bills. It has been a busy and demanding week, the lowlight being my graduate class on Wednesday where both the poem and the story was subpar and I had to critique them severely (after letting the students vote on whether they wanted my input, which they did). I was tense before the class and I just don’t have the heart to do the necessary critiquing. I am debating quitting the graduate program since I don’t want to hurt the feelings of these very affable and decent students. On Thursday, I played golf at the meadows and just on a lark, I decided to play from the blue tees and try to break 54. I started off pretty well and kept playing very well and I ended up with a 47 with 2 penalty strokes. After taking a morning hike and then having the Dodson guy out at noon, I drove up to Meadowlane Cottages on the Jackson and had a very nice time fishing. Nothing was happening on the surface but after I tied on a small prince nymph, I got continual action hooking 5 decent fish and bringing in 3. I left around 5 but if I had kept fishing until dark I am sure I could have caught a number more.

past the midpoint of the semester

This week, my eighth week of teaching, has gone by quickly. My teaching went pretty well and I was able to hike in the hollow almost every morning. There are still a few plants left, mainly asters. My greenhouse is producing well and I have eaten fresh spinach and lettuce three times. I had Clear Creek out and now the water heater is cleaned and tomorrow David King will come and do the maintenance on the septic system. I will have Dodson out next week. Last weekend I had a lovely trip up to the Jackson river just above Covington and a nice bike ride there also. I will go back up there soon. I should have my loan within a couple of weeks, and that should help. I wonder how much they will increase it, at least to 180 K for sure. My niece Jenny invited me to her wedding but I sent her back a friendly note explaining that I couldn’t. I have gotten out of a bad situation and I would be crazy to go back into it.

The Appraisal Is In

The appraiser (Randi Lemmon) did come but it wasn’t until Thursday morning. That has to be in by the 12th so I should have the money by the 22nd. My trip turned out very well with golf and biking at Royal New Kent, a dinner with Jenny, Mark and Paloma, and then off to Ken and Sandy’s at Accomac. We went kayaking in the marshland, then Ken and I went biking for 8 miles and then he prepared a wonderful dinner of sea trout, clams, broccoli, and wild rice. We watched some football and then went to bed around 11. I got up and had breakfast with them then drove all the way home since it was a pretty rainy day, although I did stop at Royal New Kent for a bike ride. I am midway through my semester and all is going well. My health seems pretty good and I am back to walking in the morning which is a great way to begin the day. I got my bike back this morning and I will ride tonight or tomorrow. I had a couple of fine walks with Rob and I played golf once since I got back. The greenhouse is doing well and I have two trays of strawberries, two trays of spinach, two trays of mixed lettuce and two trays of sugar snap peas. I ate a couple of lettuce leaves and I should start harvesting next week. I am not sure the strawberries will make it through the winter. I took a hike this morning (Friday) and then cut the grass. When I got back I built the box to cover the pump for the septic, then treated it with Thompson’s. I cleaned up the house a little and it shouldn’t take much time to finish it tomorrow. In the afternoon I saw Jeff for a good massage and then I went for a long bike ride at the VT Corporate Research Center. I talked to Casey Nicely and the appraisal is in so I should have the loan by early November.

a productive weekend

I had a good weekend, with hiking, biking, golf and some work in the hollow. I planted some spinach in the greenhouse, and now five of the trays are growing and I should have lettuce next week. I dug out the culvert and cut the grass and finished pruning the road. There are still a few wildflowers left, including great lobelia, heal-all, a kind of mint, white snakeroot, wingstem, a very few touch me nots, horse balm, and several asters and goldernrods. I hope this week will be a good one teaching and I plan to leave on Thursday to start my weekend trip to see Jenny and then to see Ken and Sandy in Accomac. No call from the appraisers yet but I am assuming it will be this week, hopefully early. I walked with Rob the last three evenings and we had good chats and I hope Fay calms down so he can have some peace.