mid-October update

Well, life continues to be rich and full here in Enoughsville.  Somehow, Saturdays have gotten filled up, too, these days.  In the past, Saturday evening was my favorite "Alone Time"; I listened to Prairie Home Companion, paid bills, and caught up on my mending.  It was such an entrenched part of my week that once, when my parents invited me to see the show live, I almost declined, saying "I can't; that's when my radio show is on."  Oh, yeah.  These days, I seem to be party hopping on Saturdays -- I just got a last-minute invitation from a student group to attend their formal dinner (which always comes with a really interesting talk by a professor), so I'm dashing this update off and ignoring bags of apples that need to be made into applesauce, so I'll free myself up enough to head out. 

Angela Duckworth walking past a slide that shows
a painting her mom did some 60 years ago. 

Last week, the reason I didn't get around to an update was because of other Saturday fun: I spent the weekend at the EDGE (Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education) celebration.  It was a fab, fab weekend.  I got to attend a talk by Angela Duckworth, whose book Grit keeps inspiring me and re-inspiring me to take on all sorts of new "stretch goals".  I was even more impressed with her talk, which was actually not at all about Grit; she told a story about her mom that had us all in awe.  A key sentence I wrote down, when I remembered to pull myself out of my trance:  "It's easy to underestimate the power of circumstance".  The whole weekend made me want to lift up the people all around me.

The podium was not designed for people of short stature.  

The cofounders of "Mathematically Gifted and Black" 
gave one of many kick-butt, inspirational talks. 

Health update:  I got yet another covid vaccination. Also, I got a cute red bandaid with a white heart. My arm was sore for about 18 hours, and then seemed to be fine.

We got three new cows in our "Take a Cow/Leave a Cow" box.
I strongly suspect this cute family is the creation of a student 
from our local art college.  They walk by my house a lot,
and they love engaging with the cow-lection.

Social update:  A few weeks ago, I started a book group around a book that my sister recommended to me called "Breaking the Age Code". We've got a good crowd; we've met twice so far and have been having really good discussions. The people who are coming say that the little glimpse we've had so far of this book already changes the way that they look at the world and the way they react to it. One of my friends said that she notices deprecating comments about age more frequently, and is more likely to challenge them. 

Unrelated picture of a newspaper bag,
annotated by my newspaper delivery person:
"Plastic only when it rains"
(rain drops and smiley face)

Another person at the book group talked about going camping in the rain, and how she nearly said to herself "we're getting too old to do this", but then thought about the book and decided instead to think about how her age and experience made her better prepared for such an undertaking. She said that when she looked around at all the other campers in the area, all of whom were younger than she was, she realized that it was, in fact, the case that she and her husband fared better than the others, exactly because of that experience. It was raining and 40° outside, but her tent was so toasty and comfortable that she had to get out of the sleeping bag because she was getting too warm. Reading this book gave her the chance to look at what it was actually happening, and to acknowledge the fact that if you looked at all the different campers, the actual truth was that the older ones, the more experienced ones, were better off, in contradiction to both the stereotype and even to her own implicit suppositions.

Nelson update: He's still having lots of fun coaching basketball.  He's looking into cool programs that are available to people in his group home.  (I personally really, really hope he can get involved in drumming again!)

Gosling Update:  She got to go to a cool concert.  

"Cyril Neville played last night at Richmond folk fest
and had a little Louis Armstrong Mack the knife tribute"

Inkling update:  It's raining at Rhinebeck, where the sheep and wool festival is happening.  Nonetheless, a good time is being had by all, and "all" just happens to include someone I normally see before the sun comes up.

"It's June, your running buddy!"

OfSnough update:  He's learning to fold flags properly for the Red Rose Honor Guard.  Apparently, people who learn to fold flags have to practice a lot.  

Y update:  She rolled into town this weekend, and we were glad that we merited a visit on her whirlwind tour of all her old friends here.   She's got some big career decisions ahead of her, and we're praying that she finds the kind of situation she's been training for and working toward.

Xavier update:  He seems to be healing up still, albeit slowly, from his bad motorcycle accident.  He lost (or broke?) his phone, so communication is a bit more intermittent, but when I do get to hear from him, it's encouraging.  With all the horrendous news coming in from elsewhere in the world, I continue to fret for Haiti, so I'm very glad for the small pieces of hopeful news I get from that direction.

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