Summery

As D. and Ph. make final preps to leave for Kamanzi, Kenya
day-after-tomorrow, I’ve been:

  • thinking about how nice it would be to have a dog.  More
    specifically, the $700 pug puppy I saw at the mall this morning.  I still
    suffer bouts of

    dog guilt
    (fleeting though they are, both guilt and dogs).  Our
    lease?  No pets.  But this is a college town.  Leases are writ
    to be violated.
  • not itching the phantom poison ivy I haven’t yet caught.  The
    difference between a watch and a warning.  Or so my
    not-yet-red-and-burning ankle skin suggests.  Landlord is abroad, too, so
    I pushed the mower around this small lot yesterday.  Yes, those were
    nubs of poison ivy growing in the lawn, then chopped and sprayed in small bits
    around my socks and shins.  Certain of it.
  • to the bone doctor for the third time in six weeks.  Today he cleared
    Ph. to resume all normal activities.  Are you sure his metatarsals can
    take it?
  • non-stop tinkering with a perl script, the online journal, a domain
    change for a little side project I’m involved with and teaching. 
    Teaching: this was the weekend (transitioning from 5-of-8 to 6-of-8) when the
    workload spikes double.  And it lingers into this week for a few more
    relatively work-intensive days.  But I can’t complain: reading and
    writing back to writing with vigor, vitality.
  • wondering whether it’ll be a family outing to

    Green Lakes
    or

    Southwick Beach
    tomorrow.  I have yet to swim this summer?
  • reconciling the severe slow-down in reading pace I’ve experienced now that
    I’m reading just to read rather than reading against deadlines.  No
    crisis, this, but I haven’t been reading as expediently during the summer
    months as I projected I might.  A slowing suited to rejuvenation.

And so D. and Ph. will be flying to Detroit then Amsterdam then Nairobi,
leaving for about fourteen days.  Once there, D.’s leading a teacher’s
workshop for grades 1-3 on the science of simple machines (who says incline
planes are simpler than pulleys?), and Ph. is involved with some other stuff. 
All in all, an exciting trip; I’d love be along on it except that I’d have to
concede the web connection for ten days and this fast-paced summer teaching
couldn’t withstand it.  So instead, I’m going to be moping around Syracuse,
missing D. and Ph., looking for stuff to do–besides teaching, reading. 
I’m pretty sure I’m helping a friend move from Syracuse to Ithaca.  After
that, maybe I’ll throw the bike in the Element and do a bit of Central NY
bicycle-n-photo blogging–Finger Lakes or the Erie Canal from here to Rome. 
Something, anyway.

4 Comments

  1. Two things:

    Pugs are the greatest dogs in the world. I say this after years of studying many breeds while working at a vet (a place where no dog is at its best), and pugs and greyhounds hold a special place in my heart. Of course I am a cat person, so no dogs in my future, but I do admire pugs from a far.

    Also, Saturday is the big moving day, and I am so glad you are still up to (read: have a twisted arm) help. We will reward you with a good lunch in Ithaca and perhaps some spirits to soothe your lonely weeks.

  2. Ph. coaxed me into checking out the pet store yesterday. I never should’ve ventured in that place. I’m actually quite fond of terrier mixes, but this pug was cool–had attitude.

    I’m planning on helping out Saturday. Just email me with the details (where to be, when). And on the subject of simple machines, I’m fond of hand trucks, for what it’s worth. Too much bend and heave with book boxes (and I know you and M. have a load of books), and I’ll probably spring something loose in my back.

  3. Geez! I wish I had read this one in time. I could have went upstairs and seen D & P for a few minutes. The INT’L gate for Amsterdam is just above my office!!! When are they coming back and are they coming back through Detroit? If coming back through DTW give me time and date and I’ll meet them before they connect hone.

  4. Geez! is right. I missed it too, Sybel. Sorry about that. I wasn’t thinking about their layover. On the way home, they have a four hour stop in Detroit. I’ll send you the details by email.

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