Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Where have the last seven months gone?

I last posted in August.  I have had an interesting interlude since then.  All fall classes have been finished, one winter class was canceled, and one spring class was cancelled but I have a student doing an independent study (she would have been in the class had there been sufficient enrollment) - that leaves me with only two classes and the independent study for the spring semester.  Assuming enough students, I have one class going for summer 2014 and three for fall 2014.  Our niece graduated from college in December and we went to her graduation in Norfolk, VA.  Our daughter endured the federal government shutdown before she and her boy friend went to Antarctica for the Austral summer - she to McMurdo Station, he to Palmer Station. They then vacationed in Thailand, went to visit their respective families and are now off to Alaska.  I have been back and forth between Vermont and Arizona eight times.  I did my shortest season ever as a volunteer docent at the Desert Botanical Garden.  I continued volunteering at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore until I injured my back in November; while I am well enough to do most anything, I am not at the level of fitness I was before the injury.  I did two sessions of Vaughan Town in February, the first week in Rascafria, Spain, and the second week in Gredos with Terry Bailey and Harry Burchstead.  My wife went to Arizona twice and continued working at the Visiting Nurse Association.  And our son is nearing graduation from medical school, finishing with emergency medicine at Landstuhl, Germany, and geriatric medicine in Sydney, Australia, plus some vacation time with his wife; in June, they will move to Portland, OR.

Spring is coming, but it has been a rough winter in Vermont - I have a long list of cancelled or delayed flights from the trips to VA, AZ and Spain.  While out walking the dog a week ago, I saw early signs of spring - the snow bank had melted enough to reveal a little bit of this car that was buried in the snow.


A week later, a little more of the car is visible and the snow bank is slowly shrinking.


Some sidewalks are clear of snow and ice, and some snow banks are almost gone.


But where there is not enough sun, many of the walks still are covered with ice, with large snowbanks that will be with us for weeks.


And now it is time to continue getting ready for our trip to Peru.

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