Feathers, schmeathers

No offense to the brilliant Emily Dickinson, but to me hope looks like this instead.

These are in the front garden and I can't wait to see what they'll be when they finish growing up. I figure I could use a little bit of hope, because even when life is good there are always the little things that can wear at you if you let them.

For instance:

1. It has been bitterly, bitterly cold here for the past few weeks. Like freeze-the-marrow-in-your-bones cold. So seeing these little shoots reminds me that it won't always be this cold, and I won't always be worried that my frozen bones will just break into a million pieces the next time I fall down the stairs..

2. The second semester officially begins tomorrow, so my lazy mornings are officially over. Only it's okay, because I think the classes will be fun if they don't kill me. I'm especially excited for The Child and the Book (yay for juveline lit!), Legal and Professional Issues, (because I just love Defending My Rights and Sticking It to The Man!) and Online Information Retrieval (making me the Internet's Daddy).

3. My department has now put the fear into my heart regarding my dissertation, which I won't even be able to get started on until May. But I have to pick a topic now. This will be difficult, because I want to do something that is a) easy, b) fascinating, and c) cheap (kind of like me! Um, wait . . . ). Also I want to score at least a 70 on it (distinction) and get it published and win world-wide acclaim when I'm done. You know, little things like that.

And now it's almost midnight, which means that my plan of getting to bed on time this semester is already shot. Oh well . . .

Posted in: England