This afternoon we decided to get out and enjoy some of the brisk Ithaca weather. Taughannock Falls is the only area hiking that’s open this time of year, and it’s clear lots of people have been hitting that trail, hiking in to check on the frozen falls.
Now that the conferences are over, the three of us are slowly settling into a rhythm for the spring. I’m trying to turn to normal work once again. But by now, what’s normal work? In the fall we ran from one deadline to another, struggling to keep up with teaching, job applications, and conference presentations–not to mention a teething, non-sleeping Katherine. Now we’re trying to return to big projects and far-off deadlines. Much as I like regular deadlines and clear-cut work, one can only live off adrenaline for so long. It’s good to be back.
Erin
So, although originally scheduled to fly out early last Saturday morning, Mom will most likely be leaving this afternoon. She was rescheduled several times, and someone from the airline called the house this morning at 3am to tell her that her 6am flight had been canceled, but that she could be rebooked for the 7th. Very kind of them. Thankfully, when she called back, she was able to find a flight out today on another airline.
Meanwhile, we think Sydney brought back a bug from the APA, since first he, then I, and now Katherine, have all gotten sick. Can’t say it’s how I want to spend my post-job-market break, but we’re dealing.
Erin
I drove Mom to the airport at four this morning . . . and then all three of us went to pick her up for brunch later that morning, after her flight was delayed. We then took her back to the airport, but her flight was once again canceled, so we grabbed a few movies and headed back home. I think Mom’s worried that the snow we’re expecting over the next few days will keep her here for longer than she was desiring. Cute as Katherine is, one can only stand our cooking for so long!
Erin
I regularly submit bird lists to eBird when I go birdwatching and eBird’s website has a nifty function that allows you to compare the number of species you’ve seen in an area with the numbers reported by other birdwatcher’s (nifty for the competitive among us, at any rate). I came in at #27 with the 118 species I saw in Tompkins County.
I think this is quite a respectable showing, considering the number of worldclass birdwatchers around here (thanks in good part to the presence of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology) and considering that I by and large didn’t hop on a car every time a rarity got reported on the birdwatcher’s email list. My rank goes down a bit for the national numbers:
I guess I didn’t do enough birdwatching in other parts of the country.
Sydney
We made it down to Philly, where Sydney caught a train to NYC. The report from him thus far goes something like: “There are a lot of people in Times Square. Why the philosophers chose to have the conference here, so close to New Year’s, I have no idea. But I’ve been to some great talks!” He’ll get back to Ithaca by train sometime late tonight.
Mom, Katherine, and I spent two days in Philly, and the most we saw was our hotel room, Macy’s, and the great little food market near the hotel. The rest of the time was business. I ended up pretty tired, since I managed to strain my neck just before we left for Philly, K kept us up all night before the interview day, and the lack of sleep gave me a whopping migraine. But Katherine was much happier our second day there and we had a very uneventful drive back to Ithaca. Usually I’m all for making the most of trips to new cities and conferences, but this time around there was only enough energy to get us through the necessities.
Erin
Our house is in a flurry as we all get ready to go to conferences tomorrow. All four of us (Mom, Sydney, Katherine, and me) will drive down to Philadelphia, where we’ll park the car and take a train into the city. Sydney will then take the train from Philly to NYC for the annual philosophy conference while the women of the family will stay in Philadelphia for the annual language conference.
Mom’s been taking over the dishwashing, laundry, and Katherine care, punctuating her work with “Acck! Katherine! No, honey, not like that. Not like that! We don’t eat the kitty food.”
Sydney, meanwhile, has apparently been overwhelmed by the slight (very slight, I’m afraid) chance that we might move this year. He said that if we move he’ll want to order trees from nurseries pretty soon, so as not to waste time getting his tree collection started. In a deadpan: “Erin, my biological clock is ticking.”
Erin
Mom flew in yesterday to spend Christmas with us and take care of Katherine while I’m interviewing next week. Katherine hasn’t yet realized the trouble she’s in (a visiting grandma whose sole project is to play with her? she won’t know what to do with all the attention), but she is, as usual, very interested in anything that brings new items into the house (the new toy from Uncle Adam? Mildly interesting, but not as interesting as Grandma’s purse, book, or glasses!).
Erin
Alan Schmierer
