Smoking Beeches and Weeping Pines

Today as Sugar and I were taking our morning constitutional, I was relieved to see that the rain had cleared and the skies were blue. The ground and cars were drenched from last night's deluge, but the birds were cheerfully singing.

As I stood waiting for Sugar to sniff everything in sight (or maybe she couldn't locate her usual marker scents because of all the wetness), I saw what I thought was smoke emanating from the middle of the grassy area behind the dumpsters. Did someone drop a cigarette and start a grass fire? But it was not a heavy smoke and seemed to be coming from higher up than the ground. Besides, the grass is so wet.

A closer investigation revealed that the sun was causing the rain soaked into two beech trees to dry rapidly, producing copious amounts of steam that looked for all the world like an Indian smoke signal of days long past rising into the air.

I watched in fascination until Sugar was ready to move on. We ended up standing beneath one of the pine trees on the other side of the building. While Sugar sniffed dandelions and chased bees, I caught sight of something falling from within the pine tree.

Thinking it was probably bird droppings, I stepped to one side. Then I saw another and another, so I quickly jumped out from under the tree branches. Turns out the rain had so saturated the branches of the pine tree that the needles were still letting go of drops of rain!

It was rather mesmerizing to see the ever changing patterns of water droplets. It reminded me of those desktop oceans in a glass container that tilt from side to side creating ever changing seascapes. Calming for sure.

And similar to that moment after some tragic life event when the sun is shining again and you are letting go of the heaviness you have been carrying. Yes, a good place to be.

Ta-dah!

After choir rehearsal last night, I struggled with going to work this morning. Several times I decided not to go, only to change my mind.

In the end, what made me go was the determination to complete one entire week of half days in the building. I wanted to be able to say that I have officially completed one entire week during which I was physically IN the library for a half day, even if I had to go home and take naps each afternoon!

How encouraging it is to be able to measure in concrete ways the progress of recovery. I have moved from barely able to walk the dog and shaky jello legs to moving about fairly freely without undue exhaustion, no shaky legs.

I celebrate these 'ta-dah' moments with great relish. Every milestone is worth marking. AND I am beginning to tolerate small lists and enjoy the satisfaction of crossing things off! Good thing, because in my office there will be piles of lists of things that need addressing. Life is good.

First Class

Today I had the honor of teaching the Composition Honors class about library resources! The professor moved up the time frame so I could teach before I get side lined again by the radiation treatments.

I was clearly not sure if I had enough stamina to do the session, but the professor understood and if I only got partway, that would be better than nothing. Besides, there are the inevitable handouts!

Since I have been coming into the office mornings all week, I had plenty of time to update materials, run some searches to see what information I could locate on B. T. Roberts, our institution's founder, and intertwine information location with general how-to's and tips. As well, we arranged for our archivist to showcase materials in our archive that were written by or about Mr. Roberts.

My colleagues were looking out for me as well, and helped me get the room set up, adjust to upgrades that have happened in my absence, and found me a chair/stool so that I could sit comfortable throughout the presentation. I am always so grateful for their thoughtfulness and kindnesses.

The session went well. As I suspected, I got so caught up in what we were doing that I forgot to sit down. The students were engaged and responsive and many thanked me afterwards. It felt sooooo good to be back to teaching and contributing. I can't wait to be finished with the next phase of treatment so I can get back to work in full swing!

Right now, I am going home to rest - and delighted that the tiredness is not exhaustion or that shaky jello feeling. Definitely on the upswing.