Recuperating

So, over the weekend I saw 7 feature-length films at the festival, worked an exam, finished a dull novel that I'd been tying to read for years, read a fascinating novel, and graded some student papers.

It felt good to be inundated with narrative, to think intensely about art, passion, love and humanity, but I think I over did it. I'm exhausted. My brain keeps on going, like a hamster on a wheel (except for not that furry and cute!)... I'm questioning everything- the value of education, the different branches of critical thinking, my role as a teacher and a scholar, if it's even possible to teach foreign language in a classroom. Meanwhile, my wrists are shaky and I just want to turn off my brain and take a nap for a month.

Yesterday we went for a bird walk and identified 2 new-to-us species: Cedar Waxwings and the (female) Golden-Crowned Kinglets. It was the first time we'd remembered to take both our (new!) binoculars and our bird book with us. Birdwatching with binoculars is much more rewarding than without, and I am excited to add more species to our list as the weather gets warmer and we spend more time outdoors.

In his training runs, J has seen loons several times. This area is generally too far south for loons, so he must have just seen some stopping over on their way further north. I am jealous that he saw any at all. I miss the Bemidji loons.