It has been awhile...

So this may be my "better get used to it!" moment.  Today was a gross, gray, very wet day.  I am sure that I have messed with reality by posting so many photos that have been of sunny blue skies and stunning views.  We have been blessed with a wonderful fall, but I have been assured that fall is more like this picture.  People now walk around with appendages of different colors and shield themselves with rain coats.    But only for the next 5 months or so.

It has been a very busy few weeks around here, and it has gone fast. I am surprized to realize that it has been two weeks since I had posted.  I am trying to think that what I have done in that time period that would be "postable" but I am struggling to think of much.  I was gone for three days to Yakima, and almost by definition going to Yakima is not memorable.  I have been assigned more duties at work, which was inevitable, but my days are increasingly filled with meetings, leaving little time for reflection or actual work--my days have gotten longer.  Still, that is more my fault.  Teaching probably was not a good idea for this semester.  Taking out 10-12 hours a week for the drive down, class, the drive back, and then preparing for class is taking its toll.    It is still worth it, and I wouldn't trade it.

One interesting thing that I have been assigned is the Interest Based Bargaining Team for negotiating the next union contract with the faculty.  While I have been intimately familiar with faculty contracts for years, negotiating one is a step into a different world, one not always tied to reality.  There are countless stories to this, and probably more to come.  It is also five more hours gone from my week.  Another irony that is funny--because I am a teacher at Everett, I am a member of their faculty union.  I am not sure that it is a conflict, but it is kind of funny.

I have taken only a few photos.  In part it is because of time, but I am really waiting for the aspen to turn colors.  It will happen soon, though with all of the rain we may just skip fall.  I need a project, but I am still struggling with what that might be.  I have thought about several things, but I am not set on which one.  I need to take some people pictures, though.  I love the scenery and the outdoors, but I like taking pictures of people.

This post is less than some others but it is more to let you know that I am alive and well.  More soon...