Three unrelated things (Word games, napping, photos)
(New icon: this is Clyde Langer. He is pleased.)
At the bookstore Friday, I also picked up a shrubs & vines field guide I've been coveting for years and two games: Bananagrams (a sort of freestyle Scrabble) and Rory's Story Cubes (like the Harold & the Purple Crayon game but with dice and no drawing). I was thinking I could use Bananagrams in my beginners' class for vocabulary and spelling practice, and the story cubes for the more advanced students to encourage them to be creative with language. But now I want to buy another set of both, because they would be great to play with my nieces, too. And once I use the cubes in class and all those fingers touch them, I'd have to immerse them in disinfectant before I'd be comfortable using them at home again.
Today, in between stacks of grading, I took a nap. I don't know how long it's been since I even tried to do that -- usually lately, I'm way too tired to nap, I just go straight into the sleep of the dead and wake up feeling like, well, death warmed over. Even worse than before I went to sleep: too weak to stand, wanting to throw up, all that good stuff. But today, it was like a real nap! I felt better when I woke up, and my kitty even curled up with me and rested his head on my arm. And I managed to eat something afterward. Win all around. Oh, also: I read some of a book. I read for leisure. For at least half an hour.
Here are some more photos from last weekend.
Sunrise in the city, June 18
(That's a crow flying in front of the clouds.)
Sunrise at the farm, June 19
My dad's zinnias -- all came up from seeds dropped last year
This is a Snowberry Clearwing, one of a type of moths that are disguised as bumblebees or hummingbirds. Their wings move so fast you can't even see them. In the very bright light, I was able to use a fast shutter speed to "freeze" the wings so you can see them.
Sprinkler in the garden at dusk
Cumulonimbus at sunset
I thought these looked like something out of the 1980s Flash Gordon movie. (I was very young and we watched it a lot. It made quite an impression!)
At the bookstore Friday, I also picked up a shrubs & vines field guide I've been coveting for years and two games: Bananagrams (a sort of freestyle Scrabble) and Rory's Story Cubes (like the Harold & the Purple Crayon game but with dice and no drawing). I was thinking I could use Bananagrams in my beginners' class for vocabulary and spelling practice, and the story cubes for the more advanced students to encourage them to be creative with language. But now I want to buy another set of both, because they would be great to play with my nieces, too. And once I use the cubes in class and all those fingers touch them, I'd have to immerse them in disinfectant before I'd be comfortable using them at home again.
Today, in between stacks of grading, I took a nap. I don't know how long it's been since I even tried to do that -- usually lately, I'm way too tired to nap, I just go straight into the sleep of the dead and wake up feeling like, well, death warmed over. Even worse than before I went to sleep: too weak to stand, wanting to throw up, all that good stuff. But today, it was like a real nap! I felt better when I woke up, and my kitty even curled up with me and rested his head on my arm. And I managed to eat something afterward. Win all around. Oh, also: I read some of a book. I read for leisure. For at least half an hour.
Here are some more photos from last weekend.
Sunrise in the city, June 18
(That's a crow flying in front of the clouds.)
Sunrise at the farm, June 19
My dad's zinnias -- all came up from seeds dropped last year
This is a Snowberry Clearwing, one of a type of moths that are disguised as bumblebees or hummingbirds. Their wings move so fast you can't even see them. In the very bright light, I was able to use a fast shutter speed to "freeze" the wings so you can see them.
Sprinkler in the garden at dusk
Cumulonimbus at sunset
I thought these looked like something out of the 1980s Flash Gordon movie. (I was very young and we watched it a lot. It made quite an impression!)