Wishing the Northeast a Great First Week of School from My Mommy and Daddy's House in Clay, New York

I heard the middle school students as they walked by my house towards school. I heard them when they returned, too. It is the first week of school in Connecticut and the 2nd week of school at the University. For me, though, it is an opportunity to work from an alternative location and to be more human than I am typically allowed to be...that is, visiting people, talking, reading books, going for walks, listening to podcasts, and writing. 

I'm in Syracuse for the weekend to help, if I can, winterize the Amalfi Drive home for my parents. I'm in my reading space, plotting how I might be of help, and figuring out a plan to stay on top of my own academic writing and goals. Without meetings, without advising, without teaching, without professional development responsibilities, I am given an opportunity to process 7 years of collected data. I'm a little overwhelmed by it, but I will get to it. 

Meanwhile, I finally listened to Born a Crime by Trevor Noah and, to be honest, I know very little about him, his show, or what he stands for. Now, however, I feel I know more. His writing is incredible, his story is fascinating, and his perspective is globally mesmerizing --- and he's a comedian, talk show host. Fascinating, actually. I couldn't help to think while listening, "Phew. He'd definitely be a Brown School kid."

Now I'm at the folks, had my first grilled cheese sandwich in years and tomato soup (my mom kept the one she dropped on the floor), then was swiped up by Cynde and Mike for hot fudge sundaes (in which the folks ordered two - super impressed my dad ate all of his.  I predicted he'd take a bite and say, "Yuck. This is too much." He didn't. It was a Black Forest Cherry Cake Sundae and he ate the entire thing).

And Chitunga reported the curtains arrived, so I said, put them up and let me see they aren't too short or too long, which he did. Okay, they work. They just need to be pulled back....so now it's time for the electrical part of the job. The reading room is coming together, although this photo makes it look ghostly. 

It looks like one more day of warm weather for CNY, and I hope a good day for running. Then, well, I'm letting my mom bark orders at me for what she wants and needs done. If she doesn't, I have plenty of editing and writing to do (that's a priority, too)