A new beginning

After months of uncertainty, the winds finally turned in my favor!  For the academic year 2011-2012 I’ll be a professional-in-residence in Greek and Roman art history.  The position gives me stability for a year, and allows me to work on research and publications.  The only drawback is that I’ll still be in hot and humid Louisiana.  I try to focus on the good points, such as the terrific rhythm and blues radio station broadcast from Baton Rouge High School.  I’d also rave about the food, but the seafood is still a little suspect after the BP oil disaster last year.

Teaching just MWF leaves my TTh open for research and errands that I never seem to have time for.  I’ve been back two years and am just getting around to getting my brake tag.  But first I had to take my car in to get the taillight replaced and some windshield chips repaired.  Ragusa’s is an awesome place to go for car maintenance - unfortunately everyone in town knows that, so when I stopped by at 7:45 this morning, they already were scheduling for the afternoon.  Always flexible and ready for anything, I came prepared to work on class material and do a little shopping.   I’ve been craving homemade Austrian soup and needed to pick up some soup bones at Calandro’s.  Calandro’s is an institution, celebrating its 70^th year.  They carry a few Austrian wines, Austrian pumpkin seed oil and a domestic Slivowitz that isn’t half bad. 

Is it soup yet?

Calandro’s is less than a mile from Ragusa’s, so I dropped my car off and set out with my cooler ... on foot.  The folks at Ragusa’s thought I was crazy.  So did the cop at Calandro’s.  Seriously it’s the same distance from the center of Wörschach to the train station!  I’ve driven that stretch of Government a thousand times, and I saw things on foot that I’ve never seen before:  a charming old boarded up grocery, a law office with Christmas decorations still hung, antique shops and second hand stores I never knew existed. And yet along this extremely busy four-lane road at rush hour I could still appreciate the cool breeze and the trill of crickets in the grass.

Thanks to Tiger Trails which conveniently stops right in front of Ragusa’s, I made it back home with my purchases, put on some soup, and will work on class prep until they call to come pick up my car. With apologies to Mr. Rogers, it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood!

Update:  9/23/2011

Mr. Roger's Introductions 1967-2000

The Deliberate Life

My goal for this summer has been order and routine.  I figure if I can get into a physical routine, orderly thought processes, instead of simply reacting instinctively to external stimuli as I have for the past few months, are sure to follow. 

This is one reason I planned a month in Europe.  There is a deliberate orderliness to life there that can’t be matched in the States.  Maybe it’s the fact that there is planning involved:  days are organized around public transportation schedules and the times shops are open.  Some might think that this makes life more complicated.  I think it simplifies everything.  There’s no waiting until the last minute then rush, rush, rush to get everything done. 

For four weeks I lived a very orderly life:  I woke up, made my bed, put on my slippers, ate breakfast, bought organic food, tidied the kitchen after every meal, recycled, composted, rinsed out a few items of clothing every day and hung them on the rack provided, not on random pieces of furniture and put all of the things I used during the day (books, papers, computer, clothes) into cupboards before I went to bed. 

And then...  I came back to Louisiana where jet lag and the uncertainties of life sent me back into survival mode.  After a week and a half of that nonsense--and possibly because my living space was approaching plague rat status--I decided to bring order into my American life and cleaned my apartment.  As in, I sorted through all the papers, shredded, filed, folded, vacuumed, swept, and scrubbed.  No longer can I use the excuse “I can’t work in a mess” to avoid all of the things I’ve got to do.  I also have an idea of what I’ve got and where everything is, in case I have to “bug out.”

The result is better than any MAOI.  I am calmer and happier than I’ve been since August 27, 2010.  I’ve begun to do research again and I even have time for creative endeavors.  I am prepared for whatever life throws at me -- and I should hear any day now!

Green Bananas

My father, who was born in the first third of the 20^th century, often jokes that he’s so old, he doesn’t even buy green bananas any more.  I had a similar experience today.  As I handed my Winn-Dixie card to the cashier, she shook her head and said, “Go back and get you your free one”  Excuse me?  She pointed at the sticker on a package of pork chops, “It’s buy one, get one free.”  I said, “I only need one.”  She stared at me in disbelief - was I really going to turn down free meat in these hard economic times?  “But if I’m only here for a month, I can’t eat more than five pork chops in that time.”

“If I’m only here for one month...”  rang in my ears as I walked to my car in the oppressive 96 degree heat.  But it’s true, I don’t know where I’ll be or what I’ll be doing come the beginning of the fall semester.  I was so busy surviving the past year (from being fired without cause to working two full time jobs, one of which involved learning a new trade) I haven’t had much time to think about what’s next.  While in Austria I interviewed for two jobs which depend on the nostrification of my American academic credentials, and since I’ve been back I’ve interviewed for a job in the States which depends on approval of the budget.  One would keep me in Louisiana, the other would involve selling everything I own and moving overseas.  

But right now I’m daintily treading the tightrope of uncertainty between my past and the future.  There’s a green banana peel up ahead.  No matter what happens, it’s sure to be an adventure, right?! 

My summer in pictures

At the Roman amphitheater in Pula, Croatia

On the beach at Brijuni, Croatia

Spolia beneath the church in Zadar, Croatia

'Coffee to-go' in Narona, Croatia

At the Volksoper in Vienna with Camerata Alpinica

Sigi debuts his new dulcimer

Friends Anita and Raimund celebrate their birthday

Wörschach at sunset

Peacock, Eggenberg Palace, Graz

Wolkenstein ruins overlooking the Enns Valley

Carnuntum - Right place, right time

St. John the Baptist and Evangelist, Hohenberg, Austria

A houseplant

3 unrelated items

A bowl of fruit

A jar full of something (in this case, a jar full of cherries
fermenting to become Kirschwasser!)

The contents of a trashcan

30 Days of Drawing

A former student posted "30 Days of Drawing" to Facebook, with assignments for every day.  I'm grateful to her for giving me the motivation to pursue drawing while on vacation!

My own foot

The interior of something (Orchid)

Something not pretty

Interior of my closet