Sabbatical

Mood. Less than a month left. 

It helps that we will be welcomed back--Francisco to his job before we left; me to a fellowship that allows me to try out something new with my teaching. But the candle is burning low, and change is unsettling. 

Above: from our green. Yesterday when we went to the park after school, a friend brought an ice cream for Blaze. Nothing, obviously, could make him happier. 

Francisco spent a day at King Charles's garden; nothing, obviously, could make him happier. 

My little happiness was surprising--a colleague asked me a chair question, a job that doesn't really start for me until July. And I just loved helping her. Maybe I will shock myself and enjoy parts of this job? Maybe I'm just happy to talk to people?

And Q: We've had a lot of trouble encouraging him to try new things, reading-wise. Since we've arrived he's spent hours a day reading and re-reading his favorite series, which has in it 70 graphic novels. School sent home a new graphic novel; I made him read it. And he loved it. What a delight to revel in finding a new joy with Q. In trying something new, expanding your horizons, and finding something new to love. (Such a challenge to help him get there.) (Generally, I'm trying to accept that he can choose what to read and that perhaps his favorite series is a familiar comfort in a world that I've upended by dragging him to another country for a year and forcing him into so many museums and churches.)

In my work I'm prepping a presentation for the end of the week, and continuing to make progress with my last chapter. And manage lots of little emails. 

In my reading, I am, embarrassingly, listening to Slow Productivity. I have a humiliating weakness for self-help books. I (finally) finished Offshore, which I loved. It ends (as well as begins) in media res. Blaze and I are loving The Wild Robot Escapes.