A new year

At last, the intense grading of the 3-course fall semester is over, as is the holiday in St Louis. This was an emotionally-difficult 3 weeks, but if one can wade through it, there is the upswing again. And so: we are home, dogs are back from the kennel, life begins again.

And though the past 3 weeks were a bit tough, it was delicious to have two days of 48 degree weather to bring in the New Year. All the snow is gone! In Michigan, in January! Yes, this is probably bad news for the planet, but to soothe myself I take the geological view. The planet has experienced 6 or 7 die-offs in its history, wherein it lost 85% of its species, and yet life continues. We are in the midst of another die-off, one we caused. It's awful, but all we can do is be present, bear witness, try to conserve where we can.

And now I prepare for the winter semester. Advanced fiction writing and the seminar on the Sacred and Profane in a Secular Age. Really great novels, and the textbooks by Peter Berger and Mircea Eliade are pretty interesting.

And the writing continues, and Stefan begins work on more mosaics. The one in our foyer is gorgeous!