Little thank you notes

This year I don't get to enjoy the rows of peonies I planted in our erstwhile home in the little city we used to live in, but this one peony plant that I bought a few weeks back is doing its very best to make up for it.

It started opening slowly, carefully, almost shyly, yesterday, and today it's almost in full bloom and glorious in its possibilities and in its coy perfume. I thank the peony for its gift and know that, while momentary in life, it becomes nearly immortal in my memory.

Tomorrow, I'm off to Boston to present a paper on Hawthorne before almost every known expert on him that there is in these parts. We'll see how that goes. I'm apprehensive, but excited. And I actually really enjoyed writing the paper after being so long removed from writing short essays (I found myself talking to myself in the same way I talk to my students about their writing: "Why is this significant? What is your thesis trail?"). I'll be thankful when the trip is over (I'm only going overnight) but I'm sure I will learn a lot just from two days among fellow scholars.

Today I picked up my student evaluations, and considering how hard this semester was for me and how challenging it was to juggle three classes with two brand-new preparations, on top of everything else that has happened, I can't complain. It's such a relief to see that most of the students appreciate the hard work that one exerts on their behalf. And I always learn from my students' evaluations and these are no different. Many students made excellent suggestions on how to improve the classes next time, and I mean to think on those over the summer so that I start implementing some changes right away. I'm really thankful for my students. They are a true blessing in my life because they teach me that teaching is mostly about learning, too.

On the Puerto Rico home front, the news are better. My father is finally out of the hospital and at home and all was tranquilo there today. I'm immensely thankful for that, and hope things continue to be calm for a while, especially since I will finally get there next week to help.

At the here-home front, things were not so good for Magellan, who had to be taken to the vet today after refusing food and water and being unable to poop for 24 hours. She had to stay at the vet's overnight so I won't see her tomorrow before I'm off to my beloved ciudad natal. But I'll be back Friday and hope she'll be all well and back home by then. Our little family isn't the same without her so I'll be very thankful once she's alright and back with us.

Tonight it's the first night in a long, long, long time that I don't have anything pending to accomplish. I think summer is flirting with me and will begin in earnest on Friday night when I get back home. And I'll truly, truly be thankful for that.