First Signs of Spring

On my walk today, I glanced over at the side of the road and saw the first flowers of the year.  It was close enough to home that I could grab my camera and document their appearance.  On other parts of the walk, I noticed several green shoots, so I expect to see tulips soon.  The crocuses are always first.  It was a pretty mild winter around here, so I haven't been craving the first signs of spring.  But I do appreciate the longer days.  It's almost 5:30 right now, and the sun is brightly shining through my home office's window.  I get the afternoon sun, which I love since I sleep through most of the morning usually.

It's now spring break, and it's time to get to work.  I have some grading to do and lots of things piled up on the edges.  I also have to make serious headway on a conference presentation for next week and hopefully on some other projects, too.  There's a fair amount of time left in the semester, but it's also going to go fast if I don't watch it.  There are some things I don't necessarily want to have done at the end of the semester but that I do want to have made progress on so I can continue the momentum into the summer.

On an opposite note, I spent the past three days in NYC, and it was great.  I hung out with some guys who ensured that I was as worthless as possible, and I needed that.  Oh, it was quite nice not to get on the internet at all for almost three days.  Even though the goal of the trip was to do nothing, I actually felt my mind clearing so that I could think about some long-term scholarly and teaching projects.  I was even happily surprised to work through some speed bumps I'd hit.  The trip reminded me how I have to build in not just down time but serious nothing time.

I'm already thinking of planning another round in June, when summer will be showing its first signs before going into full bloom.