Report from the First Day of Class

I've been listening to a delightful interview with Virginia Evans, who wrote The Correspondent, which made it to several year-end "Best of" lists.  The New York Times Book Review had a wide ranging conversation with her.  She wrote novel after novel, which never were published, before this one.

I meet with three classes for the first time today; yesterday was a lighter day, with 2 back-to-back classes, from 12:15-1:30 and 1:40-2:55.  I felt good about them both.

The first was the Advanced Creative Writing class, a class which is new to me.  I'm used to schools that have a general Creative Writing class and from there, students can do more advanced writing classes that are genre specific, like Poetry. 

Here's what surprised me--every student in the class has had me in a previous class:  1 in the very first English 101 class that I taught at Spartanburg Methodist College (Fall 2023), 2 in the Non-Fiction Writing class I taught a year ago (Spring 2025), and 6 in the Creative Writing class last semester.  So I didn't go over a lot of basic stuff, like how to pronounce my name or where/how to find/contact me.

I liked the energy in the class, and they all seemed interested in the idea of a long project that stretches across an entire semester.  They're not likely to have this kind of opportunity many more times in their lives.  We'll do some smaller writings too.  Today during my office hours, I'll sketch out a more complete calendar to let us all know what each week will look like.  I want some time to be out of the classroom, meeting with me individually, which will give them time to write/work on the long project.

After that class I had one of the three English 102 classes that I'll be teaching.  Here, too, the energy was good.

I came home, did some grocery shopping along the way to get some more veggies to last the week, and after supper, I went over to the local library to get the books on hold that have come in.  I took my short, after dinner walk around the library grounds, which are beautiful.  The grounds are more beautiful in non-winter times, but it was good to have a change in scenery for my after dinner walk.

And now, it's time to get ready for the second day of class.  Will we meet in person tomorrow?  There's snow that will be swirling around the area, but it's hard to know its impacts yet.

Prayers for Healthy Choices

While I set New Year's intentions, they aren't usually wildly different from year to year:  there are health goals and creativity goals and spirituality goals.  Most years, my sister joins with me on one or more.  We often adopt a word or phrase for the year.  This year, it's an advertising slogan, but we like it:  "2026:  The year that incremental becomes monumental."

This year, we've got some additional people trying to make incremental health changes that will become monumental.  I sent out this e-mail this morning, and because I like the prayer, I wanted to include it here:

"I wanted to let us all know that I prayed for us this morning, and I'll do so every morning. Some times, it helps to know that someone prays for us. It's a simple prayer:

Give us the strength to make healthy choices, the wisdom to forgive ourselves for past unhealthy choices, and the courage to go forward.

Peace be with us all!"

Snow that Sticks Around (but not Yesterday)

Yesterday I headed across the mountain to preach and preside at Faith Lutheran, in Bristol, Tennessee.  I was expecting a clear day.  Much to my surprise, there was snow.  Happily, it was on the way back.

When I parked the car at the church, I texted to my spouse (sick at home) that it looked like snow.  I laughed at myself--I often think it looks like snow, even in the middle of summer.

There was no snow on the ground as I went to Bristol, but the time I drove back, the mountains were dusted with snow.  Across various vistas, I could see bands of snow moving across the landscape.

It was the best kind of snow, the kind that swirled through the air but didn't really stick around to pose a danger.  We may get the other kind of snow later this week.  I have decided to wait before working on my sermon; I'm expecting that we will cancel worship on Sunday, because the Bristol weather forecast calls for snow midweek and then again on Saturday.

The forecast here, roughly 2 hours south, is more mixed.  Maybe it will snow, maybe not.  One of the weather apps isn't calling for snow at all, while another calls for two inches.  And will that affect school in Spartanburg?  We will just have to stay tuned.

Border or No Border? (A Quilt Question, not a Geopolitical Question)

Yesterday, after writing about quilting, I laid the quilt blocks that I've made from Thanksgiving until early January across the bed.

In some ways, they're a bit too busy, so I separated them to see if having a border around each square would be better.

I worry about a border, because I was creating quilt squares with the thought that they'd be together in a crazy quilt kind of pattern.  I'll keep adding to the pile as I keep pondering.

Quilting Timelines

I have been up for awhile, my brain ping-ponging around creative projects.  Let me describe it so that I remember.

I woke up thinking about what I want to work on during Quilt Camp in March and what needs to happen in the two months between now and quilt camp.  I thought further ahead--Quilt Camp in March is not the only one.  There will also be one in August and one in November.

I thought about the timeline that I need to keep to have the Christmas quilt done for my cousin's first child as a graduation (from high school) present; I want to have it ready by Thanksgiving when I see her again.  What background fabric should I get?  Then I remembered that I already bought some backing fabric back in March when JoAnn Fabric was first having their going out of business sales.   

I thought about the log cabin quilt that is close to being ready to quilt; I've sewed the remaining squares and need to turn them into a long strip and attach it to the quilt top.  Maybe I want to finish that one in March.  If so, it's time to think about backing fabric.  I'll make a back big enough to do a fold-over binding.  I could create the back and assemble/quilt at Quilt Camp in March.

I felt a momentary sadness because I didn't get backing fabric during the 20% off sale at Asheville Cotton Company--then I remembered that the sale doesn't end until January 16.  I may head over on Tuesday and see what I find.  Why not today?  The rain pounding on the deck in the pre-dawn dark makes me think it's a good day to stay put.

I went online and saw a woman's crocheted "temperature" blanket, and I wondered about creating something similar this week in fabric:  red/pink fabrics for warmer weeks and blue/purple fabrics for cooler weeks.  And then I laughed at myself.  I have more than enough projects to keep me busy for the next few years.  My cousin has two more children who will be graduating.

If I give a quilt for high school graduation, what about college graduation and weddings, if those events happen?  Let me leave those questions for later years.

First Day Back: Workshops and Hot Meals

Although I was very tired by the end of the afternoon, yesterday was a good first day back at Spartanburg Methodist College.  Classes don't start until Tuesday; yesterday was a day for a very short meeting, four concurrent workshop sessions, and two (two!) real meals--not cold food in a box, but buffet meals of hot food with options that showed that everyone's dietary needs could be met.

Many of us have worked at other places, so we know that we've got a good situation; there wasn't  grumbling about having to report to work yesterday.  Plus, we've had a nice, long break, and most of us can look forward to a summer off.  Throughout the day, I reflected on my pre-administrator days, when I thought that having 3 weeks off was luxurious, and I never had a summer off.

The workshops were interesting, with ideas that I could actually use.  I also went to the 2 workshop session on strategic planning/visioning, which I liked, even though I know that many of our good ideas won't be implemented.  But they won't be implemented because we had so many of them, not because no one cares.  

That session ended with an interesting question:  if the school got 10 million dollars, what should the school do with it?  Ten million isn't life changing money for an institution.  Our newest building, built in 2012 (I think) cost 12 million.  But it's not no money either.  I thought that was a fascinating way to frame the question and to help us think about priorities.

I returned home tired, but it was a good tired, not the "I hate my life" tired.  I woke up several hours earlier than usual, which was another aspect of yesterday that left me tired.  I thought that I would get syllabi finished, but I didn't.  That turned out to be a good thing, as I made adjustments to my English 102 syllabus/approach during the day.

Today I go back to campus for a shorter day.  Again, it doesn't make me angry, the way it might have done in my 20's or 30's.  On the contrary, I feel lucky to be in a place that encourages us to take real time away, which leaves us refreshed and ready to do the work of the school.

A Few More Snippets from Winter Break

As I head back to a more regular work schedule, let me capture a few last snippets that I haven't so far.

--As we traveled, we saw a lot of wildlife.  Of course, we often see a lot of wildlife, a lot of dead wildlife by the side of the road.  But Christmas Eve, as we drove back across the mountain from Bristol (TN) to Arden (NC), we saw a wolf.  You might ask how we knew it was a wolf and not a dog/coyote/fox.  It was a large animal, with a face that wasn't like a fox or a coyote.  It was far from any house where a dog might have gotten out of a fenced yard.  We also saw an eagle on our trip back from Williamsburg.  At first I thought it was your average vulture, but it had white wings and a white head as it swooped up away from the road kill he had been eating.

--Our neighborhood group put together a dinner for a group of retreat staff who are meeting at Lutheridge this week.  I was pleased with the amount of help I got.  I didn't take a picture of the 3 lasagnas (a Stouffers lasagna with meat, a homemade one with chicken, and a homemade one with roasted veggies), the bags of salad, the loaves of bread, the homemade banana pudding.  But I did get a picture of the Kings Cake that I made (recipe in this blog post) and that my friend decorated:

--When we were in the resort in Williamsburg, we had great fun transforming leftovers from a restaurant meal into more meals for the smaller group of family that vacationed from December 31-Jan. 2.  We went home with risotto and pasta and 14 garlic rolls.  We used garlic rolls so that we didn't have to go out to get bread for lunch; it went well with our hummus and carrots.  The risotto and pasta were the base for our meal on January 1, along with some additional shrimp that we brought to cook.  Delicious!

--When winter break started, I didn't know that I had a melanoma, so I didn't know I would spend part of the holiday having a melanoma removed.  Here's the site just after the biopsy in early December:

And here's how it looked with the steri-strips in place:

I'm glad that the melanoma surgeon warned me that the site would look lumpy because he always stitches underneath.  The stitches will dissolve and the arm will smooth out.  Here's how it looked yesterday, January 6, a day warm enough to walk in a sleeveless shirt:

--We've had whiplash weather all break, from very wintry weather (but no real snow) to very balmy weather, with record breaking warmth on Christmas Day and much of this week.  If I lived here all by myself, it would be just fine with me.  My spouse is much more grumpy when it's cold, so I'd be happy if our current spring weather meant we never went back to wintry weather.  

--Before yesterday, I might have written about how I didn't do much poetry writing, but Tuesday, I came up with a pretty good rough draft.  I saw the foggy weather and thought about the early December forecast for freezing fog, and came up with an interesting Epiphany poem.

--Even if I haven't done a lot of writing, I've done a lot of quilting.  My spouse and I made 4 quilt tops for the local Lutheran group that creates quilts for Lutheran World Relief.  I made a lot of log cabin squares for my cousin's oldest child who graduates next year.  She loves Christmas, so I'm using all Christmas fabrics.  Here's what I will remember when I think about this winter break:

--I have really loved the fiber optic lighted tree in the above picture.  I love it every year, but this year, every morning I turned it on when I first got up in the pre-dawn hours.  I turned off the other lights in the front living room/kitchen, except for the stovetop light.  It has been SO beautiful.

--I have loved having time to see friends and family.  The lack of lots of time to see friends and family is the one drawback to my teaching and preaching schedule.

It's been a great winter break, and while that fact can make it hard to go back, it also makes me grateful.