If on a clear day you can see forever, on a partially cloudy day you can see wonders, too. Yesterday, my husband and I rebelled against the idea of frittering away another beautiful early afternoon on a weekend by working the whole day so we leashed up the dogs and went to the part of a nearby metro park that we hadn't visited before.
I love it when we go for strolls like this, especially when we can enjoy the outdoors and see new sights. At Heron Pond (photo above), the ducks were in the water, with their white tails sticking up in the air as they submerged in search of food. My phone doesn't do justice to the image, but it's enough to paint a picture.
The sun shimmering in the water, a sight my father loved, was lovely. (I remember the day he taught me the word "riela" in Spanish to describe how the sun makes the water sparkle.)
The puffy clouds over the horizon, looking down on a lone burnt-red tree, were a treat to the eye, too. Again, the phone camera fell short (it couldn't find something to focus on), but I like the almost Impressionistic effect that it gives the landscape.
Lizzy, hunter dog that she is, enjoyed the outing, and was especially excited by the ducks and the geese, pulling on the leash to be let into the water to chase them. Of course, she did not get her wish.
The outing was short and fun and marked a highlight in a quiet, tranquil day spent at home, a much-needed break after having to travel up to my small college on the hill every day of this past week.
I try to keep myself uncommitted the two days a week I don't have to commute for teaching, but this past week was unusually busy. On Monday night, we had a the Reading of Latin American and Latin@ Authors to cap Hispanic Heritage Month, which ended on October 15. The event was a great success again (last year we had 18 people who read and, this year, we had 24!), but it ended past 7 p.m. Mondays are my roughest day because my morning office hours are usually full and then I teach the three-hour honors seminar in the afternoon. Thankfully, dear friends put me up that night so I didn't have to drive home after night had fallen.
Tuesday was its usual busy self, when I teach two classes and hold office hours, and this Tuesday I also had a meeting to decide on the honors proposals; on Wednesday I had a faculty seminar at which I presented; on Thursday I gave a writing workshop for KEEP and REACH students after my classes ended at 4 p.m.; and, on Friday I drove up for the Parent's Reception, where I talked to five sets of parents over the hour-long activity.
On top of a crazy-busy week, on Friday morning I had to go to the orthopedic doctor because my right hand (especially my thumb and wrist) had been hurting incrementally for about a week or more. He diagnosed tendonitis, and gave me a cortisone shot at the base of my right thumb, and a hand brace. Today, I'm doing a lot better but I was glad I had all of yesterday to recover from an exhausting week, and from the cortisone shot (which hurt as much as the doctor said it would).
I'm ready to welcome this coming week, which is a more normal one. Then my mom will come visit for my birthday, and then there's Halloween, so there's a lot to look forward to as my favorite month of the year comes to its usual shining close.
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