A morning person

—if it means staying up until 2 am, and then feeling sleepy, but not quite tired.

In the morning I make sure my new orchid gets enough light.  I keep debating whether it needs watering, but they say you should not over-water it.  Once every 1.5 weeks is probably a good balance for our climate, and this orchid.

This week is forecasted to be much cooler.  I miss you, rain.

I miss my summer reading, too.  Yesterday I did read The Old Man and the Sea, which was short and sweet.  No time for chunksters this summer!  But that was the choice I made, consciously and deliberately.

I spend that time on the workshop I tutor, whether preparing materials for the next session or spending six hours a week leading it / commuting to and fro.  It's been every bit worth it.  I learn a lot from watching the students solve problems, discuss the course topics with each other, and ask interesting questions.  It's a joy to see people have light bulb moments, and nearly everyone has an great attitude (even though it's an extra two hours spent indoors for them).  It's one of the few reasons I'm sorry not to be continuing on at uni in the fall.

I couldn't stay in academia indefinitely, though.  It feels claustrophobic after even a short time.

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately.  I don't mean quantitatively, since there is less time now to daydream. Constructively, rather.  Thinking new thoughts, instead of only the familiar ones.

There is so much more to learn, always.  The learning process is worthwhile in itself, even if you don't find each and every answer right away, or ever.  I don't want to reach that thought habit where I think I know everything.  I've always been motivated by what the mathematicians call the 'unknown.' Even about the 'unknown,' something is known, and this may just be the certainty that it's worth looking for.  That certainty is more than enough for me.