Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Miscellany 2

Yesterday was a beautiful, cool, relaxing summer day. If 3pm on a clear, low-70's Labor Day isn't the perfect time for a nap, I don't know what is.

The faculty here at EMU is on strike, and classes start tomorrow. Considering all the problems we've had recently I am irritated at both sides, since a strike can only hurt enrollment. Enrollment is what we need to build to flourish here. (shakes head) Our local negotiates after the faculty, so they shape our contract a great deal. Anything they concede we are forced to concede, for all intents and purposes. Anything they get affects how much is available for us to get.

Sunday was Sarah's last day in children's church. From now on, she's in regular church with us, unless Stef and I are in nursery (which is probably 3 Sundays in 5.) I'm a little pensive of her ability to sit somewhat still for 40 minutes, but hoping for the best.

I don't typically take celebrity deaths with any level of personal involvement, but Steve Irwin makes me feel a bit of loss. He was just some likeable guy who loved his job, and happened to ride the zeitgeist for 8 seconds and win the rodeo while doing it. Somehow he made being a TV-average looking (much better than non-TV average looking) alligator wrestler seem like an everyday guy. Go figure. And anyone who says "he died doing what he loved" has never been killed doing what they loved... I'm sure it sucks.

Saturday, Stef called me over to the front porch to see what she thought was a hummingbird. "If that's a hummingbird, it's the smallest bird that I've ever seen," she said. It was flying exactly like a hummingbird, hovering as it went from flower to flower. Upon close inspection, it appeared to be more like a little lobster with hummingbird wings. Stef caught it in a little bug net, and we put it in a jar for observation. It was indeed some sort of moth, with membranous wings like a fly or a cicada. After releasing it from the jar, it alighted on Stef's hand, and Stef and Sarah both petted it for a minute before it flew off to feed again. A quick google on the words "hummingbird" and "moth" yielded the animal's name: Hummingbird Moth. Go figure. How cool. The picture attached is the spit and image of what we saw; just imagine the wings as a blur.

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