Saturday Snippets: Limitations and Flood Waters

It's been the kind of week where I wonder what my limitations are trying to tell me.  Of course, it's also been the kind of week where I know that I'm tired from my time away at the retreat, plus I'm not sleeping well.  So let me record some moments of delight from the week, in an attempt to gain some perspective.

--A few weeks ago, I planned an Earth Day event which offered students the opportunity to plant a seed in a small cup.  I wasn't sure that anyone would do it, but a few students did.  This week, I heard from some students who wanted to know at what point they need to put them in bigger pots.  Hurrah!

--We had a training session which I didn't lead, but I was the support person:  I figured out where it would be held, sent out the e-mails, ordered the food, got the food, brought the food to the room, and so on.  Several people thanked me for the support work, and one person talked about what a good leader I am.  It's been one of those kind of weeks where it was good to hear that someone thinks I'm a good leader.

--I've already written about how thrilled I am to have a poem accepted for the Women Artists Datebook.  They sent several forms for me to fill out, and one of them asked which pronoun I use.  It's the first form that asks that.  I spent a few moments thinking about how far we've come, in addition to wondering what pronoun I prefer.  I'll probably go with the traditional "she, hers."  It's been a week of news coverage of the female track star who has too much testosterone (produced naturally by her body) and won't be allowed to compete unless she participates in drug doping to reduce the hormone.  That kind of coverage reignites the question of what it means to be female and male, and it was interesting to get that form in this week.

--Should I go with "they, theirs" to show support for transgender people?  My English major self doesn't like the singular/plural disagreement.  My linguist self like the idea of making language ever more gender neutral.

--We have had some lovely evenings of watching rain on the porch while eating dinner together.  The last night that I had truly deep and effortless sleep was 2 weeks ago when my sister and nephew were here, when the thunderstorms rolled in at the end of a satisfying day, and they weren't as severe as forecast.

--I wrote 2 poems this morning--one was about the dripping onto a window sill last night.  Then I had an inspiration for another one about Noah after the flood--this might become a series.  Today's poem has Noah wondering why he's not more happy about the restored and renovated kitchen after the flood waters have receded and the repair work is complete.

--Like Noah, I have been wondering why I'm not happy now that the remodel is done.  In part, it's because there's still so much left to do.  But it's also akin to my dissertation process.  It took forever, and in the end, there's no exhilaration, just exhaustion.

--Today a few friends come for the remnants of our quilt group.  It will be good to have them remind me of how far we've come in terms of the house.

--I plan to try to do one thing each day towards house restoration.  It can be a small thing, of course.  At some point, I'll be able to face some of the big things, like the cottage full of boxes awaiting a decision, the various elements of cottage restoration, but on days that I can't face that, I'll do something small, like put things away.

And now I need to go get ready for the day.