Texture and a String of Colored Lights in Everyday Ramblings

Sometimes when I am out and about I take texture shots. This is one I took on Sunday.

This morning I went to a work meeting. It is a meeting we have every two weeks and there are usually about 24 or 30 people in the room and a number on the phone. This morning we had maybe 15 people there and of those more than half were sick.

Thank goodness this is not the plague. Or AIDS, I remember AIDS quite well thank you very much.

Flu shots are basically mandatory where I work. We all have had them. I hope they are protecting us from something because they are not protecting us from this.

Today is the office holiday party. Saint Joe went. He is still sick too but I sound worse.

I am covering the fort. (Looks were exchanged after class at work yesterday when I said I wasn’t going to the party.) As I get closer to retirement the less I care.

I taught both my classes yesterday (which felt great) but I had to reassure all my students that I wasn’t in pain, though I sounded sick. I had them do their progressive relaxation exercise in the privacy of their own heads so I didn’t inflict my congested croak on them any more than necessary

I didn’t have any problem sleeping last night though. Out like a light, me.

Today is Kes and Most Honorable’s 30th wedding anniversary. They are such good people and in so many ways they compliment each other. They are going out for a nice meal later. Kes says she is going to wear pearls, as this is their Pearl Anniversary.

I was visiting and at the Christmas party they met at in Normal Illinois all those years ago so I am sort of a mascot for the longevity of their time together.

And I was at the wedding here too, of course. They were married in the Reed College chapel.

We are all devastated by the big awful train derailment here yesterday. It is heartbreaking that so many rail enthusiasts were onboard for this the maiden voyage on the new route. I cried. It still makes me tear up thinking about it.

Other than the powers that be, no one was happy about this new route.

They have been working on it for 10 years. It was supposed to speed up the trip. But it is (as was obvious by the derailment) right along the freeway where the old route was beautiful and curved around south Puget Sound.

It just isn’t much fun to travel these days is it? I think about all those folks stuck in the Atlanta airport the other day, all those college kids coming home for Christmas.

Clearly the leaves need to fall off the trees before new ones can grow.

And it needs to be dark so we can see the light when it arrives.

One of my students showed up to class last night wearing a string of Christmas lights. It made us all laugh.

Thank goodness we can bring cheer to each other as we head straight ahead into the end of this most challenging year!

Last updated December 19, 2017