Football, Fall, and Funks

Fall is often my favorite season. I love the wonderful change of crisp air in the mornings, the sound of football games, and the turn of the leaves. Unfortunately, this fall, for the last bit of time, has been overshadowed by a funk.

I guess it started when I got back from KC. The nearing dates of the interviews in DC are constantly on my mind. KC was so nice because I could be around people who "got" my stress and didn't feed me the, well, irritating false support: "It'll all be just fine." Not that I'm wallowing in worry, but my stress is real. Still, with those well intentioned "it'll be fine" folks, I smile nicely, repressing the ever-building frustration. Sigh. I do know they mean well, but it isn't helping--at all.

Football, of course, didn't help the funk this weekend. On the up side: I can only hope the most recent controversy brewing in College Station will be the cherry topping needed to get us a new head coach. And although 'da Boys didn't pull off the win this week, they did give New England a better game than any other competitor had so far this season.

Being in this incredible forest of giant oaks (and other trees), I had looked forward to a gorgeous fall. Sadly, due to the drought conditions, it looks like most trees will simply drop leaves---assuming they ever do turn. But we did get over an inch of rain yesterday. That was nice.

And yes, with the dates of interviews looming, November is hard to plan for. I have to hope for second interviews at some campuses, and thus, I have to be ready to give a job-talk pretty much all month. A job talk is where you speak for twenty or so minutes about your current work of scholarship, and for the next twenty minutes, you're questioned about it. Some people ask questions in genuine attempts to help you further your research and thesis. Some, though, ask questions merely to try to look smart in front of their colleagues. Oh yes, you know the kind. Wonderful.

In the middle of all that, I still have no actual plans--or even airline tickets (Eek!) for my December Africa trip. That wouldn't be so bad except that it turns out I'll instead be leaving actually in November (29 or 30). That's like six weeks from now! Yowza!

Still, the more we try to plan for the trip, the more excited I get. I do, of course, need to find a travel doc around here for the anti-malaria drugs. My yellow fever shot's already done, so the oral meds should be all that I need! We're planning on trying to stay one or two nights at a place that looks like pure paradise--Chumbe Island---an island limited to about fourteen guests at a time, where the "bungalows overlook the sea and it takes just 30 seconds to stroll from the comforts of your bungalow hammock to feeling the warm tropical ocean lapping at your feet." Ahhhhhh....

And I did finally make it to the Dixon gardens on Sunday to catch the last day of the George Rodrique exhibit. It was fabulous! I'd had no idea how much I'd love each painting of Blue Dog.



So it's not as if evething's negative. It's just a funk. And this too shall pass. :-)