20151001.0608

Rain is falling, lightning striking, and thunder booming around Sherwood Cottage. The weather is welcome, as, despite the wetness earlier in the year, the area is still in something of a rain deficit. The Mrs. and Ms. 8 both sleep soundly through the storm this time; I believe I was roused by it once or twice in the night, which is unusual for me. Or I might have woken at shifting beside me; there are things that call a person out of bed, and getting out of and into a bed where another sleeps may well attract attention. I do not recall fully in any event; I might have roused, but if I did, it was not to true wakefulness.

I am unsure how to feel about that, though. One of the things I am "supposed" to do is protect my home; certainly, of those who live at Sherwood Cottage, I am the most equipped to do so--poorly equipped though I am. For me to sleep as soundly as I do, coming only partly to wakefulness when thunder booms loudly enough that the house moves in sympathy or when someone climbs into bed next to me, bespeaks a certain inability to protect my home and the people in it, one that goes beyond the problems of my insufficient training and underdeveloped physique. Perhaps it is good that I live in such a sedate place as I do.

Work continues, of course. There is a freelance piece for which I need to do some reading waiting for me. There is also a stack of reading for me to do sitting on my desk, not so much student papers at this point (although those are coming in tomorrow), but the works of other scholars that I need to read so that I can build my own knowledge better and perhaps do more to push new knowledge out into the world. I need also to get back to work on my book chapter, which I have left too long neglected, and there are yet job applications to fill out; the stack of those on my desk has been growing, and I have not been doing enough to prune it down. As ever, then, it seems I will have a busy day; I would not know what to do did I not.

I am in a good position to be so, as yesterday was good enough for me to capitalize on. I was able to continue my practice of generating sample papers for my students, writing the kind of assignment I give them. Modeling desired behavior is a commonplace of educational practice, particularly with less advanced students--and all of mine this term are in first-semester composition, with most of them in their first semester of college. It is also something uncommon; I know of few others who do such things, and the rarity of it calls attention to it even in the minds of students whose evaluations loom large in faculty employment decisions. Too, it builds up samples of my writing that I can use for various professional purposes without worry about securing permissions, and such exercises as I completed yesterday equip me to write for at least one journal--which I need to do.