The Big Turns

Not my picture. Click on the picture for a link to the copyright holder's site.

A few weeks ago, I celebrated a "0" birthday--I turned 30. Since T was going to be in Seattle at a clay conference (yes, before you ask, I was jealous, and instructed him to eat as much seafood as possible), we had our special outing a week early.




Every year, hundreds of thousands of cranes migrate between Canada and Mexico. In the spring, when they head back north, they stop in a strip of Nebraska no more than 50 miles wide--the jet stream creates a natural bridge across the state, so that birds from all over Mexico headed all over the place in Canada, all funnel over corn fields and across blue skies. While I only have a few cranes in each picture, you can't see the sheer number that gather. (Google "Sandhill cranes" and you can see how impressive the cranes are.)

At dusk, the cranes move from the fields, where they gobble up corn left from last year's harvest, to the Platte River, where they settle on the little islands to sleep, away from predator. We spent some time along the river, where a single-lane bridge crossed the river and we watched the sun sink lower on the horizon.



Sadly, we discovered ticks were everywhere, and so we headed back into the van and off to find more cranes.

We did spot many in the fields, and sat for maybe 15 minutes, watching little groups of cranes take off together. How do they know which group they belong to? Do the annoying cranes who constantly ask, "are we there yet?" get ostracised?


The day ended, and my handsome birdwatcher and myself headed back to town. Along the way we stopped in a cute little town, where their restaurant, Chances R, is the big draw.

It was a lovely outing, and, paired with the Avett Brothers concert here last week, made for a great few birthday weeks.




Now, just to look forward to the next "0" birthday, when I turn 40. Oh, goodness.

Resurrections and Incarnations

The slow plodding of work on the dissertation continues. I'm now in the Endspurt, trying to make edits before the chapters go back to my advisor. While so much has been done (the whole thing's written! It looks like it's fairly cohesive!), I see how much is left to go. The little things, the minutiae that bring a project from a decent draft to a manuscript--those I haven't begun. Rereading it to try and catch repetitions? Proofreading? I know that these will add up, and trying to get them done a little at a time, after work and on the weekends. I don't look forward to the next month or so.

In addition to working on the dissertation, I have edits due on an article. I have three weeks to turn the article around. All of the edits are extremely helpful, and having an expert read my work and point out how the article can be strengthened and how I can make a better argument--these comments are gold. Every now and again, I see the edits to my English prose and I want to object. Yes, I know that "that" is for a restrictive clauses and "which" for nonrestrictive. But I prefer the British approach--"which" just sounds better to my ears, no matter if the clause is restrictive or not. Still, these are minuscule compared with the insight that the edits to the article give me, and how they prepare me for tackling the edits to my final chapter. Then the chapters are off for feedback, and I'll hopefully be able to get this dissertation done and out the door.

Celebrities and Arrests

Yesterday, I saw that George Clooney had been arrested, and my little heart skipped a beat.

Not because I think that he's a heartthrob, but because he, along with a man named John Prendergast were arrested for protesting in front of the Sudanese Embassy. Now, you may not know John Prendergast, mostly because he's not every woman's celebrity crush, but only works relentlessly to address the atrocity we call genocide. If you weren't at Vanderbilt when he spoke a few years back, I'll forgive you for not knowing.

What Clooney has done is brought attention to something that receives negligible attention in the States. How often do you think the Sudan makes headline news? Shows up in the news most people listen to or watch on a daily basis? Now how often do you think those people are interested in the daily lives of celebrities? What they wear and where they've been sighted?

To the folks who have commented on the Washington Post about Clooney's celebrity and negatively viewed his involvement, I encourage them to look past the man and on to the murders they've so simply overlooked.

the marker

A good friend

sent us a book

It looks

delicious

because
it's about food

And he left a marker
in that book

A tiny piece of
toilet paper

Bells

Little bits of contentment on the weekend remind me of why L. has been a great place to call home. I woke with the sunrise (thanks to my internal clock set to waking up for work), made coffee, and sat to write. The rooms fill with early morning light,and remain bright throughout the day. Above you can see my view from the couch, which includes our dining room table fully spread out to accommodate T's birthday dinner. Light and bright, the apartment also fills with the sound of church bells on a Sunday morning. You see, we live half a block from a Lutheran church.

In the peace of the morning, it's glorious to hear the bells fill the clear cold air.

Swallow in the Barn

Years ago, someone told me this story:

http://www.frtommylane.com/homilies/years_abc/second_sunday_after_christmas-2.htm

It came to mind* when, recently, I visited a good friend who is going through a rough patch. "Rough patch"--you know, what we call any point in our lives (which we all have) when any number of things isn't working out right, or we're blue, or we're struggling to get on the right path.

As we sat and talked, I realized how much I could identify with her. And the funny thing is, seeing someone else struggle the way I have/do, I realized that before me sat the very reason why struggling (I want to use suffer, but that seems to extreme; I'll reserve that for the mystics and the martyrs) makes us more human, and more compassionate.

For a moment there, I realized how our struggles help us better see one another and walk alongside one another.




*I know, the parable doesn't quite match up. But it's simple, elegant.... a helpful reminder.

One week to go...

Err...a little more than one week. I can hardly believe how quickly the time here has gone by, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to focus on my work. But. But....

I'm ready to be home, too. Since, oh, say, the first night here, I've been missing T. But it was ok. The first few days, anyway. Being able to focus on my work, not worry about taking care of another person, not feeling selfish for focusing on work (me? Why would I focus on me?) After a week in, I started worrying. Am I that girl? The one who complains about sleeping alone, who can't stop talking about her husband/bf/what have you. These worries, from a girl who prides herself on her independence.

This month has been a great reminder about why we live in community, why intellectual engagement alone is not enough. We are, after all, far more complex than the sum of our thoughts.

Hopefully, when I return home in a little over a week, I'll be able to take this momentum into finishing the last chapter. And then comes the reworking--I'm anticipating a lot. But here's hoping that the work will be good, focused, fruitful.

And of course I look forward to being in community again.