Standing at the Trailhead of Winter

The grading is done. At least for the students who have been paying attention, which is the majority. Those who have not been paying attention will find out sooner or later, most likely after grades are submitted and they see they failed the class. They still have four days to get late assignments in. But experience tells me they won't take advantage of the grace period. They'll have to repeat the course. During these last few days of grading and seeing some students shoot themselves in the foot, I've been muttering about these students and their bad behavior. Angel Baby will hear me and say, "Mom, let them fail." I know he's right. Still, I have a tough time watching this happen. I've already heard from one student who is upset over my not accepting his final papers sent to me via email rather than submitted into the LMS. He stopped attending class quite a while back, five or six weeks ago. Because he wasn't in class, he didn't get the informa...

Yesterday I was on the deck when I heard a bird call I've never heard before. I stood and listened. Then I dashed inside to get my camera to try and record the sound. Once back on the deck, the call sounded closer, so I scanned the trees and found the source. A crow. Or maybe a raven. I find crows incredibly interesting. I remember when I was around 12 and my sister had gone off to vet tech school that I asked her if she'd be able to bring me a crow for a pet. I'd be the coolest kid around with that pet crow. It never happened, but my fascination for crows never waned. I was able to get some good video of the crow/raven, and now I'm trying to find information on which bird it is and what this particular call means. After enjoying listening for a bit, it was time for me to go to yoga class. I had signed up kind of last minute, noticing there would only be two students attending, but it turned out I was the only one who showed up. I had my own little private yo...