Author: onajide

As my cousins were in orientation for parents and students at Univ. of Miami. The youngest daughter wanted to “do something” other sit in some boring meetings so, she asked if we could do something. There were no gallery openings that I knew about so, we up to Ft. Lauderdale and walked up and down Las Olas with all the outdoor cafés and such. We had some ice cream and enjoyed each others company. On the way back we stopped in Hollywood to check out the outdoor happenings near Young Circle. Because she has an art background we have more than a little common ground to interact. She’s really a wonderful girl. I stopped back at the hotel to say goodbye to everyone but, nobody had returned to the hotel yet. I’ll talk to my cousin tomorrow before they leave for home.

My cousin’s family and I went out to dinner last night. We ate at a Haitian place near where I used to live. The food was good and we all got stuffed. If you haven’t tasted caribbean style cooking from the different islands, you must. We are so fortunate in that way here in Miami, top of the caribbean as it is.

My friend Edouard has a few flowering plants in his garden right now. This bromiliad is really awesome.

I have relatives in town today. My cousin’s daughter is, or will be tomorrow, enrolled at the Univ. of Miami (a private institution) and so, the family is here to send their youngest daughter through college. Their older girl already finish her batchelor’s at Auburn. It is strange having family here because none really live here. She’s a beautiful young lady and has her head on straight. She should do well. Anyway, the older daughter wants to go hang out with me tomorrow at some gallery openings. She’s bored and wants something fun to do. 🙂

I don’t know the name of this flowering shrub and, didn’t have time to find out today. It’s in the rear garden area of my artist friend’s studio. I was over his studio today since we hadn’t talked in a couple weeks.

Yesterday, even though I was still feeling ill, I took a long walk. I felt good while walking and saw this car on my return trip. Naturally, it made me think of danthered. I went back this afternoon for the model year: 1960.

I woke up this morning and said as I walked to the bathroom that I am beginning to feel like I never want to wake up again. No, I don’t mean that. What I am feeling, along with my continued illness, is overwhemled by decision of some years ago to teach. There have been some successes and some frustrations but, right now this choice is causing me to find some work that is less tenuous. Being an adjunct, per contract, is not allowing me to reach my goals. Having to do so many things, to find many different income sources, larger and smaller, takes too damn much energy.

I didn’t mention I had a meeting with the Dean of my dept. last week. Our chat was okay. However, one thing I’ve never done but will most certainly in the future is to request a student drop my class if they are a problem. In the past I’ve always tried to keep all students in classes because if the class doesn’t make (the required number for continuing) then, it could possibly be cancelled. That has happened once. The primary reason for doing that is student evaluations of teacher performance. There is a percentage, or range, that is acceptable. In all the classes I’ve had problem students the evaluations are at the bad end of the scale. That has got to be better for me in the long run, however long this run is going to be, because it feeds into the interaction with other students. Those evaluations are as charged with emotion as they are with facts. It’s crazy… anyway, let me go fix some breakfast or something. Well, maybe lunch now that it’s 10am.

One thing about feeling ill when one is used to good health and very few illnesses is that getting ill feels worse than it probably is. I never (rarely) get sick. Last week I started off with a slight irritation in my throat that got worse and then, I started sneezing and runny nose. Today, I’ve been taking meds, drinking tea and resting in bed. I just ate some chicken soup and my stomach feels totally swollen and painful to pressure. Gawd… I’m going back to bed.

I did listen to live audio from today’s Olympic cycling event www.eurosport.com). Handsome Italian Paolo Bettini won the race. I’ve been watching swimming events on TV trying to checking out technique so that I can swim better. I couldn’t swim as fast as them for $10mil, although I’d give it a shot.

I even took a pic of myself for my daily photos that looked about as sick as I felt.. *smile*

Finally, I’m posting images from around Bass Lake. Some of the wildflowers posted earlier were from this hike. The distance is 5.6 miles all the way around. Some of it is quite rocky but, it’s not that difficult if you take your time. Philip took me here because not even he had done this hike even though the cabin is less than 10 miles away.

The Sundholm cabin sits on a beautiful piece of property with birch, pine, and aspen trees. The lake it sits on has numerous islands, some of which are privately owned. Weekends are noisy with powerboats and kids having fun. Otherwise, it’s very quiet. We did listen online to Le Tour de France while there from his computer but, other than that, the radio never goes on. I don’t care for polka music. There is no TV. The phone rang with a wrong number, once. I cook most meals when I’m there. Philip was today talking to me about chili. He likes my chili. He likes my cooking.

The Sundholm cabin has been on the same land for just about 100 years. Even though Philip maintains the property, pays taxes and such, other fmily members chip in because they all use it at various times during the year. The cabin gets used in the winter very rarely but, if somebody does travel up there, they need to supply everything they need, including water. The cabin gets closed down by the end of September, food tossed, pipes drained, etc. There is an outhouse but, it’s a long, cold walk in the winer. I didn’t post all the pics I took while there and, I do like this one a lot.

Philip’s dog, Albert, was better behaved this year, except for mealtime, not at doggie dinner time but, our dinner time. He still begs, whines, whimpers, barks, rolls around on the floor and, in general, has fits until he gets food off the plate of his master. I fed the dog once BEFORE we sat down, and poured the drippings from the ground beef I cooked for that night’s chili. That was the only night the dog didn’t drive me nuts with the noise. He is cute, though.