Post-Vacation Blues

These blues have no time to mope, because I am awash in email, paperwork, questions to answer, problems to solve. I understand why people are hesitant to go on vacation.

So, a brief comment today and a link to Sojourners. Driving to San Francisco on Friday I heard a wonderful interview with Jim Wallis, author of God's Politics: Why the Right Gets it Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It. Made lots of sense re: social issues, and why we feel left out of the current administration, despite its wolf's pose in Goddy talk, (duh), and part of why we haven't yet landed a home church.

Refreshed, Reconnected, and Dirty

Vacation officially started on February 19, but it looks like my blog vacation started earlier. The goal for my first extended run of vacation time was to dig dig dig in the dirt. Goal very well met, as mother and I convened to tidy up debris in the beds, amend some soil, plant some new plants, and admire our work. I would not have accomplished as much without the help of my mother and her husband, who pressure-washed the house and driveway, picked up my son from daycare and offered miscellaneous support.

Throughout all, I have had to negotiate the investment, since we are in a rental. How much am I willing to leave in the ground? What do I want in containers? I'm excited about being able to eat what I grow, and in addition to the cherry tomato, radish, carrot and parsley seedlings we now have some spinach and strawberries. Other seeds started include eggplant (2 heirloom varieties), squash (crookneck), 2 heirloom cucs, basil, and beets.

The front yard now sports a new potato vine, coleus, Myers asparagus fern, vinca, Scotch moss between the stepping stones, and rosemary transplanted from a backyard container. We also have two pots greeting visitors by the door, one containing a small lavender, the other waiting for the hostas to be out later in the spring (plan is for 2 varieties of hosta and a campanula).

The countdown is on before back to work, but I can say that even with all the labor I am very well rested and have a great head start on spring.

Treading, treading, Friday!

Whew, what a totally exhausting work week. Still having growing pains adjusting to this level of management, dealing with many competing interests from a variety of quarters. Much of it is reactive, but I try to carve out a piece for myself.

On that note, one of the biggest developments is that I think I've stumbled onto a research project that might be pretty rewarding intrinsically as well as in all of the professionally valued ways (in that it will easily spin off into conference presentations, a publication, etc.). Now I just have to do the lit review to see if anyone's beaten me to it, in the way I've conceived it. And, it would make a decent contribution to the professional literature too, so it's not entirely out of self-interest (it's bound to be service-oriented coming from this field, eh?).

Earlier this week I had a hard time sleeping because I was spinning on what plants I could plant: hostas, tomatoes, alyssum, etc. I hope I get time to dig in the dirt this weekend. It's obvious that's where my brain wants to be.

Not Our Brand

Okay, like many people in this nation, today I am totally glutted with chips and other verboten carbs. I didn't even really watch the game that closely, more engrossed in my mother's gardening books (ooh, nice border!). I take that as a signal to perhaps plan for a TV-less day come same time next year.

The title encapsulates my reaction to this Sunday's sermon at the default church. Hard to put the experience in words to do it justice (at least in the short time I have to write and post this). In short, a guest speaker aurally assaulted me (and perhaps others) about the many mission activities happening in the Muslim world, and the importance of "our" continued work. There was no overt political statement, but my mind couldn't separate the well-intended Goddy message from the politically motivated activities that may be complicating the issue. The delivery was non-modulated in two ways: 1) vocal delivery was at same zealous pitch, relentless; 2) there was no qualification, critique, acknowledgment of the philosophical complexities of championed mission activities. A few people left the room halfway through his talk, I don't know why (and it's such a huge congregation they could have just needed to pee). The main question from this new believer: did I have a hard time swallowing this because I'm not used to this sort of aurally masochistic a---kicking to become a more mature Christian, or did I have a hard time swallowing this because in some way I know this way of going about things ("things" being this particular style of rhetorical "persuasion" on local sermon and global mission levels) is not necessarily the most effective?

It didn't help that the speaker was the pastor's brother. The church search continues....

Paperwaves

2 1/2 days out of the office proper, and I'm inundated with paper, email messages, etc. We're understaffed (vacancy about to be posted, plus some planned and unplanned absences), about to hire another student. All this and entering our peak season makes for some very stressed-out staff, not to mention their fearful leader.

I can only do as much as I do, but for now it's time to wrap up and pick up a little guy at Montessori.