It's been a rough week for the people around me. Three of my friends had to travel long ways to visit ill grandparents. One friend serving in the Peace Corps in Africa with only a month til he goes home got dumped by his longterm girlfriend over Skype. My dear friend and successor as captain of the Clare Hall women's boat club is struggling with the work and responsibility and freezing cold weather that rowing involves. A fellow PhD student has crippling back pain for no reason and finally was admitted to the hospital because it got so bad. The kid who was dating me had his experiments go all wrong, broke his bike lock key thus leaving his bike permanently locked to the rack, and then got broken up with all on the same day.
Awful.
Since I'm in a culture that doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving, I'm going to have mine a day early and list What I'm Thankful For now while I'm feeling very thankful...
-my family is so healthy and well that 4 of them are on a tropical vacation this week and the other 2 live in Florida on a permanent tropical vacation
-I am so healthy and well that I rowed under a below-freezing brilliant sunrise this morning and survived
-I am not in charge of anything where people can get hurt or be cold (I only run seminars, which are quite pleasant compared to rowing outings)
-I have a new home with a skylight window with A RAINBOW shining through it right now (honestly, I'm feeling thankful enough already, the rainbow's just icing on the cake!)
-I get to spend today (and most days) in a warm welcoming office full of hard-working grad students who are glad to be there
-I get to spend today (and most days) talking to undergrads about ideas that they're excited about
-I get to spend today (and most days) being part of discussions about ideas that academics get excited about, despite their best efforts to act as good stoic Brits
-I'm going to London this afternoon, just for fun. ?! I'll get to ride the train and the tube and go see a free science museum with my friend. In London. And I am so thankful!
I hope your list is just as long and heartfelt as mine. Happy Thanksgiving!!!
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2 comments:
Happy Thanksgiving! Glad you have rainbows and rowing capacity. I'm not sure that seminars have no corporal dangers, though. Don't you get your students' brains to heat up pretty high? :-)
We truly have a lot to be thankful for. My list is too long to recap here, but it encompasses areas such as health, love, happiness, and Amish butter.
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