Life is Good, More or less

The knee was nasty for two days, and then... nothing. Feels fine. Who knew? My class is going well; for the first time in a long time, I am teaching my period/place, which is really nice. The students are enjoying it. It's lovely only being on campus two days a week; astonishing how liberated I feel.

I think I'm going to Madagascar next summer. Astonishing, but actually it's doable. The tour is actually cheaper than many people's trips to Europe. And - well, lemurs! And maybe Alaska. And maybe Ghost Ranch. Big travel summer, again.

Weather here is finally cooling down. It's cool enough to work in the yard and get back into the studio. Great sleeping weather too.

Found a new research interest too: gardens and landscapes as a mode of political discourse. Lots of reading to do - it's not quite as distressing as my 'normal' field. Which leads me to teaching the holocaust over and over. The new one will be quite different, but also more fun. And, as a friend said, since I'm on the verge of retirement, my productivity is what I make it. So this new field (no pun intended) offers opportunities to visit gardens, public and private, all over the continent. World, really. And to combine two existing interests: political/cultural history and gardening.

Horrified by a report on NPR re: domestic violence. Seems cell phone spyware is being used as a new tool for abusers to track, dominate and control their victims. What is wrong with people???