An eerie quiet spread across the land

It was an exceptionally quiet Monday morning. TPP did not see a single other person while walking to the coffee shoppe. It had been raining for hours, and it was still a light drizzle. Things were wet, very green, fresh, and lots of new things had popped into bloom. However the strange quiet was because finals were last week and graduation took place on Saturday, so this college town had emptied and everyone went home for Mother's Day. Aside from all the new things in flower, other observations contributed to eerie nature of the morning. A lot of couches died over the weekend; fourteen were piled on the curb, four at a single address. At least they weren't hauled into the street and burned as was the fashion (very much frowned upon!) a decade or so ago.  A dismembered foosball table sat in an avenue's median. It looked sad. A dozen feet away sat a whole pineapple. One wonders if they possibly could have had any connection?  One apartment building was cordoned off by yellow caution tape.  It seemed very appropriate; TPP has no desire to investigate. The expected confluent litter of beer cups and associated drinking paraphernalia were strangely lacking except for one place where the empties were artfully stacked on a porch railing; it was all too neat. Maybe the pending arrival of parents triggered some primal survival instinct to pick things up. In contrast the coffee shoppe was bustling; a lot of faculty were getting caffeinated for a last bout of grading. Students were totally lacking. It felt really good knowing this was the first Monday after finals when grading did not ominously loom for TPP in over 4 decades! 

End of the semester, at last!

Well, that's another fine semester shot to hell.  While too busy because of competing demands upon TPP's time, it was a good semester student-wise, really!  Four-fifths of the students in my botany class got As and Bs at a ratio of 1:2, a ratio that has not changed in this class for over 15 years.  The other fifth got Cs and Ds (poor study skills that survived junior college and poor work ethics).  The more advanced rainforest ecology class was probably the best ever, uniformly hard-working, bright, cooperative, and not in the least annoying.  How great is that?  There's always a feeling of great relief to be done, at least with the course work.  TPP started the task of cleaning up the semester debris that had accumulated in the lab and other work areas (the desk is still piled high), and picked up a project started about 2 months ago to figure out where things stood.  Spent some time trying to figure out how to distinguish, easily, yews from plum-yews.  It's a piece of cake if you have reproductive structures, but how often does that happen?  Having always had trouble thinking about holidays during a semester, it was time to think about some presents and then take some action.  So TPP visited 4 shops this afternoon.  One clerk asked, "Panic shopping?"  What's the date?  "The 17th." Well, until it's the 24th, it isn't a panic.  The 17th is really early shopping.  This is the problem when you starting holiday shopping back in November.  Came home and got a lot of great help from the kitty girls wrapping a few things, well, just one cat really, but she's such a help especially with ribbons.  Still need some cookies and other treats for a few special people, so tomorrow, maybe TPP will bake some cookies.

Observations on the final week of a semester

The end of a semester and the possibility of graduation for some, survival for others, puts a lot of strain on the system.  After many years on a university campus you sort of get used to a certain amount of manic activity and stressed out behaviors.  And there are other hallmarks that the semester is nearly over.  Let's see what we have.  A fellow just ran down the hallway screaming and throwing papers every which way.  Hmm. Based on the papers, perhaps he was happy to be done with this particular chemistry class, one way or another.  Presumably done in such a manner as to never need those notes again.  A corner of our staff parking lot was vacant because someone had tossed a rather largish TV out of an apartment window, and it sort of exploded upon impact.  Perhaps they were aiming at someone's car (faculty?)?  Perhaps they had finally figured out that its addictive nature had caused them to spend more time with reality shows than with the reality of studying.  Perhaps it was a physics experiment done as a final project.  A student sporting a rather deep tan shows up to explain why they haven't had time to finish their final paper yet.  Hmmm.  A student stopped by to say goodbye and introduce TPP to their parental unit, show them the greenhouse, and try to impress them with how much they had learned.  Those exams haven't been read yet, but it's a good bet they did pretty well.  A student who seemed to have steadfastly ignored by advice all semester stopped by to see if they could get a letter of recommendation.  TPP explained his perspective that would have to be part of his letter; they seemed surprised that you just didn't write how nice they were.  Four cars of studenty looking people, no one of which seemed to know which way they were going, were in wrong lanes, going opposite ways, and everyone was yelling at everyone else.  This is why TPP never rides to campus on his bike until the crazies have gone home.  Grades get posted for a big introductory class in a hallway display case.  The first student to arrive looks up their grade and gestures with a fist, yelling, "Yes!"; the second arrives, looks, and breaks into tears.  That's the long and short of it.  A nicely dressed young lady is strolling through the quad taking pictures; with all the crab apples in flower, the campus does look lovely.  Piles of refuse are growing upon the curbs and around apartment dumpsters.  It looks a lot like the aftermath of a flood or some other natural disaster. Years ago it was the custom among out students to haul ruined, or just slightly used, furniture out into an intersection and torch it.  This custom was frowned upon.  Still the amount of waste is appalling; the concept of recycling has not caught on and slum-lords throw out everything left behind.  Garbage cruisers are having a big time, which is the only sort of recycling going on.  Fast food delivery is going on every where.  One place near campus has bike delivery to anywhere on campus, fast!  Yes, a semester is coming to an end; you can tell.

Just a little bit busy this spring

The end of the semester, the beginning of field season, a publishing deadline, and home gardening are all colliding here in May when the days just don't have enough hours.  At the coffee shoppe this morning, at least 5 colleagues were sitting there with piles of papers.  Only one of them was in a semi-good mood.  What a terrific person she must be.  Students want to know their grades, and TPP wants to provide them as soon as possible.  However, a bit of patience is a virtue and so is a careful, thoughtful evaluation.  Same goes for the field work and gardening. This afternoon will be spent in the field looking for our permanent plots.  They are marked in the SW corner by a big spike and a inch and a half numbered aluminum tag.  It's hard enough to find them when the prairie has been burned, but this year is didn't get burned.  When the plot gets found, a 36-inch pvc pipe is shoved over the spike at the corner.  When the vegetation really gets up there, it's hard to even find the pvc.  An observant person can be within inches of a tag and not see it.  This is sure to be fun.  At home, plants are showing up faster than the Phactors can plant them, and it's always good to take time to plant things well and in the best location possible.  One particularly well-placed plant is an orange flowered azalea that sits in a nice copse among old spruces, a bald cypress, and big hostas.  In flower, it really lights up the space, which faces the street.  Yesterday a passer-by noticed it and braked their car suddenly for a better look and almost got rear-ended.  That would have been an expensive look.  People have actually stopped, parked, and come to the door to ask what variety it is (spicy lights).  Just planted a new azalea in the same series that has white and yellow flowers (highlights). TPP will try hard to get some more plant placements like this.