Hello and A Happy Beginning of the Holiday Season,

I am reminded of the beginning song from the movie version of the Broadway musical, Rent. Five-hundred-thirty-five-thousand-six-hundred-minutes! As we head into the holidays, we often take the time to reflect on the previous year and what has occurred in our lives. "How do [we] measure a year in the life? It is certainly easy to get caught up in the mundane parts of our existence, to focus on having no focus whatsoever. As the song so aptly puts it: "It’s Time Now - To Sing Out, Though The Story Never Ends; Let’s Celebrate
Remember A Year In The Life Of Friends; Remember the Love; Measure In Love"

It was a year for me to remember the fraility of life, through the loss of two fraternity brothers and the wife of a colleague who all died much too soon. It was a time for me to face my own fragility as I recovered from a serious motorcycle accident.

It was a year to celebrate the learning of new things in the world of the vineyards and to make new and amazing friends at the winery in Marco, Ted, and Julie in particular. It was a time to learn about what is important in life and realize that having a lot of money and power does not happiness create! It was a time to learn about myself and to know that I could love again, and yet to manage that in a way that was positive and safe, which sounds rather conflicting, but for those of you who understand the pieces . . . I think you will agree.

It was a time of some disappointments . . .  not getting promoted, but realizing that the process is what it is and promotion does not make me a better professor. I learned more about my own boundaries and what I am capable of and where I have weaknesses, but most of all being comfortable with both those strengths and limitations. Learning that I am still naïve  or is it idealistic?? I certainly argued for the latter. I guess, in my idealism, I wish the best for my friend, Ann, and her son Camden, but all I can do is pray for that.

I am grateful for some amazing students this semester and I appreciate their hard work. I still have work to do. In the words of Homer Wells, of The Cider House Rules, I need to be of some use. Or of another character, to whom I have been compared (which I still argue is quite strange), my "Gumpian" existance seems to be at the point where Forrest just decided to run, but I hope it is not for three and a half years. To Char, Juli, Ruth, Renee, and Jodi, I would like to express my profound appreciation for your friendship and collegiality. To my D2L guru, thanks for the friendship, the listening ears and the smiles!

Finally to Lydia . . .  as I noted in the foreword of my dissertation: thank you for everything you do! You are amazing. So . . . whether it be destiny or floating like a feather in the breeze, or some of both . . . I’ll keep running and give thanks for the year! The picture was taken in Wyoming on the way back from California this past summer.

Bless you all,

Michael

Good Morning from my office at Stout,

I am waiting for some students to arrive for their appointments during office hours. It is the last day to drop classes without a failing grade and so some of the students have chosen (probably wisely so) to bail. The weather is definitely late fall like and the wind has been strong and blustery. I actually makes me miss Lake Superior and its amazing power and sounds.

This past weekend I had a couple experiences that reminded me of both the smallness and the expansiveness of the world in which we live and that we how we are affected by that interaction on a daily level. On Sunday morning, I was a Perkins with a colleague and her parents who graciously bought me breakfast. At the table next to us, my colleague noted that all the people sitting there were from Michigan Tech, my Ph.D. alma mater. Being the chatty person I am I went and introduced myself and found out that they had been at the party that I had been invited to the day before, but was unable to attend. While speaking with one of them, I found out that she know two of my former students from Stout that are technical writers. It is the small world syndrome for sure. That evening, I had a couple from my church over for dinner. I have known them for more than three years, but never realized she was from Ames and that she was in a restaurant where I first worked as a server and learned to bartend.

Last Saturday night, I was invited to attend the International Dinner with one of my students from Nepal. The evening was delightful; full of cultural information about the various foreign students at Stout, the nght finished up with a dinner and a talent show. Most American students speak English poorly and write even worse. That is unfortunate, but true. On the other hand our foreign students come to Stout with an incredible work ethic and such amazing skills. Rachana, my student from Nepal, and also the person in the picture with me above, speaks 5 languages. She has not been home in over 2 years and works very hard both in her classes and in her part-time campus job. She and many of the other international students that I have had are certainly hard working, but also such a breath of fresh air in the class.

They come to us with the desire to learn; much like a sponge, they absorb every little drop they can and are always hoping to learn even more. It is fun to work with them. We are at that time in the semester that everything is due and the final push for the end is upon us. I received 60 five-page papers this week, so that is my spare time. I am thinking about the second semester already and trying to get some of that squared away in my head.

All in all, things are going well. No complaints, I am continuing to work on the range of motion and will begin some strengthening of my fingers in physical therapy. The Harley is finished and, weather granting, I might try to get one quick, but short ride in before we finish the fall. Then it will sit in storage on a battery tender. I hope this finds you all well. I am hoping to go North for Thanksgiving, but I hope you all have a wonderful holiday. That might be the topic of my next blog.

Michael