End of the Semester: Sand bagged

Photo by K. Iuppa

Yesterday, last day of classes at St. John Fisher College, a gorgeous sunny day, a day you'd be tempted  to go for a long ride to somewhere else.  But I was at school in Basil Hall, listening to the hum of classrooms and buzz of offices on my corridor.  My office too buzzing with final student meetings; and then more meetings, which were  purpose driven. I work with a group of colleagues who know what they want and want what they know to be heard and understood and implemented. I like working with this committee because of the strides taken in each meeting. They are forward or onward  thinkers. Of course, all of us are a bit glazed eyed right now. I have been reading and grading for three weeks straight. This upcoming week is the falling action of the semester's narrative.  How will  these courses end up?  Quickly, I suppose.  Graduation is just two weeks away.

So,with that in mind, I know I have to stay focused and get this work done.  No distractions, but I confess I
want to do other things, like play in the dirt.  Our large gardens are tilled and ready.  Peter has begun planting.  Seeds are started.  Some of our friends are going to be growing their gardens on our land this summer. We turned over large plots for them.  Our earth is just fabulous this year.   It will be fun having them
here on a day to day basis.  I think more people are going to look for these opportunities.  To have a community garden  or farm on  other people's farms.  The gas prices are going to make everything costly, so people are starting to think about putting by their own produce.  Believe me, it's very different eating fresh tomato sauce in  winter.  Once they have a taste of this, they'll never go back.  And, we're organic--  truly organic, so we know  how  our veggies are grown.  Another big difference.

A lot of fruit and trucking farms suffered in the early warm spell, then switch back to cold.  This did not affect our trees this year. Our trees didn't have early blossoms.  We must have been in a pocket of cooler
weather. Whereas, some of the farms East of us and Southeast were hit hard.  This is disappointing, because it means there will be a shortage of apples, cherries, and so on.


It's a gloomy day today, a perfect day for getting things done.  Need to start working on my list.
Maybe, I will be able to carve out some writing time too.  We'll see. Had a good night's sleep last night, so I'm ready.  Bring those papers on!





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