Standing at the Trailhead of Winter

Though it's only November, the cold temps we've been having make it seem like it's January. I'm not totally opposed to the cold. In fact, I look forward to it every year. I love wrapping up in a comfy sweater and warm scarf. I'm thinking, though, by late January, if the frigid temps continue, I'm going to be more than ready for some spring and summer warmth. These cold temps so early also have me stressing over the bees. I know I can only do so much, which I'm trying to be sure to do, but I still worry. Two weeks ago I removed the top cover on the beehive to put a fresh jar of sugar syrup in place of the empty jar. After removing the empty jar, I looked down through the frames. Nothing moved. Nothing. I couldn't see one single bee. In disappointment, I returned to the house to don my bee suit so I could go deeper into the hive to see if the bees were truly gone. As I was dressing, Funny Delightful Son asked me what I was doing, and I told him I was afr...

Flat tire. First time. Happened sometime overnight while parked inside the shop. Already running late for work. No time to change out the tube. No worries. Just look up. Three more bikes hanging from the rafters. Hmmmmm. Which one to ride? The trusty blue cruiser it is. During all my years of riding, I've never had a flat tire while out riding. Even as I went from Yorktown, VA to San Francisco, CA, I didn't have to stop by the side of the road to change out a tube. What are the odds? One of the other cyclists had a flat nearly every day, or so it seemed anyways. On one occasion, he had two flats within a couple of hours and didn't have a second spare, so I gave him one of mine. I've often wondered why one person has so many flats while another never has any. I do try to check my tires every day, making sure they're free of debris. I give them a good looking over, examining them closely for cracks, missing chunks of rubber, or anything that I might have picked up d...

During my 15 years at my current position, I've had the opportunity to propose a special topics in English class to be listed on the schedule, and each time, though enrollment was on the lean side, the classes were given the go ahead. As such, I had a wonderful semester of reading and talking about literature of Golf. I had another semester of hashing out issues brought about through the readings for a Sports Literature class. While both of those classes were fun and gave me the chance to share my love for sport as well as my love of reading with students, they didn't leave me walking out of class at the end of the day with goosebumps like happened to me today. This semester, I've had the pleasure of working with just a handful of students who signed up for a class on writing memoir. With only five students in the class, I can spend a lot of time with each, reading as they add to their memoir and giving immediate feedback to help them move further into their work. One par...

Before Otto: Got up at 5:15 to begin the day, making sure I was out the door for work by 6:45 to be in my office by 7. Spent anywhere from 45 to 50 minutes preparing whatever needed to be completed for 8 o'clock class. After Otto: Get up at 5:15 to begin the day, going for a 20 minute walk with Otto and Max before leaving for work at 7:20. Spend 10 to 15 minutes preparing whatever needs to be completed for 8 o'clock class. Before Otto: Packed lunch to eat in my office between classes. After Otto: Leave work at midday to let Otto out and have lunch at home, with Otto bouncing around the kitchen. Before Otto: Had dinner then putzed around the house, cleaning, watching TV, finishing up student papers. After Otto: Go for a 30 minute walk with Otto and Max after dinner, play in the yard, spend the evening outside. Before Otto: Cycled to work then home. After Otto: Cycle to work. Cycle home for lunch. Cycle back to work. Cycle home at end of d...

It's mid October already, and I'm nowhere near being ready for the arts and crafts show scheduled for mid November. I've just not spent much time in the shop, creating the items I have floating around inside my head. I have all the materials, but so many other things have been going on, not to mention I've simply not felt inclined to open up the shop and work. I do this--this being going through periods of just not having the gumption to create--every now and then, with now being my most recent dry spell. I try not to get too down on myself about not writing, not creating, not cycling. I figure sooner or later the pendulum will swing the other way, and I'll be back to doing each of these things again. Key ring holder I did get one item finished today. Well, nearly finished. I just need to complete some small details. I drew out several new items I wanted to create for this year's show, a key ring holder made from tubes, valves, and other miscellaneous bic...

There are moments when I'm caught by surprise with just how easy it is to love. Granted, some beings make loving them so simple. Like a puppy. Their needs are few, and as long as those needs are met, the response is usually tenfold the effort to fulfill the need. Wagging tail. Prancing about in happiness. A sloppy tongue eager to lick fingers, hands, a cheek. Snuggling against you as if to say, "You are the best human ever." I've often thought over the years that humans need to take a page from the Book of Dogs--always race to the door to greet whoever might be entering, jump around in excitement and maybe even throw in some "It's so good to see you! It's so good to see you!", then just sit and grin at the person in contentment. How much better would our days be if we all did this with the people in our lives? I spent an hour and a half today snuggled against a fur ball on the couch, both of us dozing in the quiet house. I could feel the little f...

Sometimes, as I'm cycling along, I'll see something and feel a pull, actually it's usually more than a pull, it's almost like an incessant, unfulfilled need, to record the something through the lens of my camera. Today, that something was a tree. Maybe this tree became my fixation because Angel Baby and I watched Guardians of the Galaxy last evening and I fell in love with Groot (the idea of a tree being, not the actor playing the tree being). Or maybe this particular tree spoke to me because it is so different than the other trees around it, and I tend to be drawn to that which is different. I was once asked, way back in high school, after moving to a new home and thus starting as a freshman at a new school, if I had been popular at my old school. I remember shrugging, saying I wasn't unpopular. The girl asking the question kind of cocked her head at me, giving me a bit of a quizzical look, then said, "I can see why you were popular. You're different....