I am not sure what my writing morning looks like--but there are hard deadlines ahead, like needing to be on the road by 7:30 to drive across the mountains to preach and preside at Faith Lutheran in Bristol, TN this morning (the service starts at 10, and all are welcome). Let me record some thoughts before they slip away:
--Yesterday for two of my online classes that I teach, I sent out an e-mail reminding them of their last assignments. Their last day is Friday, April 19. As always, when we get to the end, I think about how it feels like just yesterday that I was entering dates into the syllabus thinking about how far away April seemed.
--Yesterday we went to the big box home repair stores early-ish in the morning, around 8. They were eerily deserted, very unlike South Florida stores would have been on a Saturday morning. I'm relieved, don't get me wrong. And I still had to wait to get my paint color mixed, but it wasn't because there were 10 people ahead of me in line. The paint guy had gone off to do something else, and it took awhile to find him.
--We are making progress on the house. We go in a spurt, get things done, and then progress lags for a few weeks (or more). We could blame this cycle on all kinds of things: supply chain issues, shortage in dependable workers for things we can't do. But as I look back over our whole lives, it's always been this way.
--On Friday, I made this Facebook post: "Carl is distressing paint, the tile crew is listening to salsa music, and I have workplace training videos about workplace discrimination and harassment playing through my earbuds. These laws are not new to me, although this year, it's a different company that has created the training videos--listening to them with salsa music playing is surreal."
--And then two of the training videos wouldn't load. Sigh. I tried not to think about the fact that the last time I had completed these kinds of training videos, it was for a different school (same group of workers though, working on a different part of the house), and I got paid for my time, and I was able to access the videos and take the quizzes.
--I am so tired of being subjected to these videos that show all the ways that humans can be awful to each other in the workplace. But I am glad that I am no longer the administrator who must make sure that everyone has done the training.
--I have been feeling stuffy for weeks: is it because of drywall dust or allergies or a cold or paint fumes? Yesterday when my throat started feeling scratchy, I took a Covid test, just in case. It was negative. So that's good. This morning I'm back to feeling stuffy, but not throat scratchy.
--I went to the computer this morning wondering if we were at war with Iran, if the electronics would be working. Or maybe this week-end's confrontation between Israel and Iran will be that kind of little thing that looks like it will lead us all to apocalypse but doesn't.
--I was sad to hear of the death of Faith Ringgold, but happy that she had a long, productive life. And I am so grateful for all the work that she did to make people take fiber and fabric arts seriously.
--I was lucky to see her work periodically, and once, in a small gallery, where I could get close. But what I remember most about that trip is the Art Appreciation instructor telling her students to pay close attention to the work and saying, "And Dr. Berkey-Abbott is a fiber artist too."
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