Thursday, May 26, 2011

Wild life

With the semester finally and blessedly over, life has a different pace and hue around here, helped by sunnier and warmer days even though this has been a very wet May, fast on the heels of the wettest April on record in Ohio.

Today, for the first time, we caught a glimpse of our resident snake (should we name her Eve?), which is singly responsible for why several ranitas that have hopped all the way to our water feature to claim it as their own have not-so-mysteriously disappeared after our dear Mr. Frog died two winters ago.

Earlier this week, my husband caught this wild turkey strolling at the edge of our property, right at the entrance of our driveway, as she crossed toward the woods where her huge flock (of maybe 20-30 wild turkeys) live and where they routinely walk up and down these hills.

The wildlife around us is out in full force now that we're in late spring, which actually feels like early summer (we did skip the real spring this year), and that feeling of "I'm finally on break!" is slowly starting to sink in. That's why today I got a much-needed upper back massage, something I haven't done in a gazillion years, and my boricua friend and I went to have dinner at a favorite Indian restaurant, lo que nunca, which we are never able to do during the crazy busy semester.

I also spent a few hours in my office today readying my scholarly plan for summer: one proposed book chapter that needs to be done by late June and an accepted journal article that needs to be ready by late July, and then it's on to my book project.

Gathering my research together and starting to make notes on what I want to argue in that chapter is exciting and reminds me (after reading thousands of pages of student writing) how much pleasure there is in the creative art of academic writing. Although some students have actually told me that they think the words "creative" and "academic" are opposites, nothing is farthest from the truth. I thrive on the creative process of working to distinguish my interpretation of a particular text from existing scholarship and of attempting to contribute to a larger scholarly conversation about and understanding of an issue or a work, and I can't be more pleased that this kind of creative work will be the focus of the rest of this year and the beginning of 2012.

The pre-tenure review process went well so I have been re-appointed at my small college on the hill, I have a one-year research leave to write a book for which I have an advance contract, and I also received the junior faculty teaching award this year. As I've said before, I'm sure my beloved papito has had something to do with all this good fortune and that he is also basking in all the good that has come our way. He would be the first to remind me of all the reasons I have to be grateful -- Dios te vino a ver, he would say -- and to feel so incredibly blessed that I have all these opportunities and privileges.

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