Monday, April 7

Made it through an extremely long workday, with two big events for students that happened back-to-back. My boss, who has been an amazing supervisor throughout this whole ordeal, prohibited me from any heavy lifting / cart pulling / exertion so I spent the events manning the registration tables and welcoming students. And now this busy day is done. 

I just relaxed for the rest of the evening with Gilmore Girls and kid pickups. (I'm in season six. Having somehow never seen this series the entire way through, with large gaps in my GG knowledge, I will say, unsurprisingly, that I highly dislike this entire Logan trainwreck. He makes my skin crawl with dread.) Andrew made a shepherd's pie yesterday for us to have for dinner today, since he had to be at a work dinner, and it was delicious. I was thinking about it all day, waiting for the moment when I could finally break through its golden potato top. 

I'm also fully enjoying my current book, a memoir called Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton, about Dalton's experience taking in a wild hare in the English countryside. Every line is a soothing meditation on wildlife, nature, and the amazing bond it is possible to form with even the wildest animals. Highly recommend this book for anyone feeling the daily horror of hatred and instability. Working in higher ed, and having an all too close relationship to all the impacted scientific research, and also just being a thinking and empathetic person, I have to consciously tune it all out. My body has enough to deal with and does not need to be suffused constantly with anxiety and anger. This memoir is the absolute opposite of--everything. I may have to read it on repeat forever. (It's possible the memoir will end as I fear any memoir about a wild creature might; but the heartbreak will be worth it.)

I took Farrah outside today and noticed that part of our backyard fence has cracked off and disappeared, likely down into the neighbor's driveway along with the remains of our retaining wall. Andrew has gotten bids and is ready to hire a mason and get this story on its way to a resolution.