Update with Ironies

Life continues to be rich and full here in Enoughsville.  This past week started as summer; torrential rains blew through in the middle of the week; by the end of the week, we'd arrived at fall.  

I've been reading a book called "The Water Recycling Revolution", which is essentially a book about water treatment -- the mechanics, the economics, the politics, the geology of it.  I realize it's not everyone's idea of a page turner (it's a bit of an irony to say that a book about water management is rather dry), but I found it kind of fascinating to dig into all sorts of facets and complications of how water gets from [wherever] to our kitchen sinks and bathroom showers.  On Thursday, my running buddy and I chatted about water in the basement (hers) and about how I caulked the roof of my Little Farm Library to keep my cow figurines dry; then I came home to read in the newspaper that even though we got 6 or 8 inches of rain this week -- in this county that boasts the most fertile non-irrigated soil in the nation -- even with all that rain, we're still technically in a drought.  And after reading the book, I can kind of understand why.  

I caulked and touched up the paint on this roof,
and also on the doors, so my cows have a dry space to stay.

The end of the week also brought my husband home, after the end of a 25-day voyage to far-away lands.  On previous trips, he had made tours of Holocaust sites.  This time (although I gently fretted in my own head that he would use this trip attempt to visit an ATMs in every city, and I totally admit I fretted needlessly), he made use of a professional perk to visit roughly a gazillion museums:  "My ICOM museum professional membership card has been magic. I get in everywhere for free." 

From the Medusa Museum, another lovely irony:
people in the flesh looking at Medusa frozen in stone.

Other random updates.  Nelson got a bike, but no one got pictures.  Instead, we have pictures of Gosling's dogs, because they hold still better than Nelson on a bike.

"Three snoozy pups" at Gosling's house,
enjoying the dog days of summer.

Also, Inkling is working hard on her Rhinebeck sweater.  Again, we do not have pictures, but she did reassure me that several weeks ago she really did get to Broadway, and here is a picture of her sock-in-progress trembling in front of The Little Shop of Horrors from that visit.

And I got a fun text from Jason the other day.  He wrote,

Hey mom, would you be able to send me everyone's names in the family I'm putting a family tattoo together

I love this for so many reasons.  First, how cool is it to think about a family tattoo?!?  Second, Jason has a bunch of different families to choose from, and I'm super touched that he wants this particular family inked permanently into his skin.  And finally, it is hilarious but true that my family is so dynamic and vast that it's hard for one of my kids to remember all the names -- and correct spellings -- of their siblings. Love it; just love it. (Especially point two . . . awwww).

I find myself in an interesting place, logistically, right now.  Back in May and June, as I was heading into the summer that would lead into my sabbatical, I was a bit concerned that I'd be so caught up in math that I would lack for social interaction.  I was a bit apprehensive about being lonely; I'm just not the kind of social butterfly that my husband is.  But this past week has had so many different meet-ups with friends that there have been some days I haven't had a single chance to think about math.  It's almost the opposite of what I expected.  In fact, the main reason that I got any math done this week is because I have regularly scheduled meetings with several collaborators, so in a very real sense it's the social component that also kept the mathematics moving along. 

Having said that, here are four quick math updates:

1. The Fulbright proposal is in; now I just have to wait until March or April to find out if (or how) I'm going to Panama next year.
2. My publisher has pulled together an application package to nominate our book for a math association book award.  Sweet!
3. My "moon tilt" paper got rejected; the referees said it was "a well-written, clear explanation" but not suitable for that particular journal.  So, I'll have to dust it off and try somewhere else. 
4. Last weekend, as I was getting tucked into bed, I started thinking about a project I'm working on with one of my research students, and realized something pretty cool.  I jumped up, went to the Command Center to play with GeoGebra, and in 3 minutes confirmed that I was right.   This is a little lemma that gives me the big breakthrough to answer the question I've been working on with various students over the last 3 years.  So cool!  The bad news is that the insight made me so happy and excited about all the implications that I didn't get to sleep until after midnight. Hah!

So, that's the news from our family, which continues to be wealthy in our adventures.  May you and yours be similarly prosperous.