and in the end a scary announcement

"Where were you on Thursday and Friday? We missed you! There was a hole in this place, I mean, it was really taking a nose dive without you," says one of our campus handymen to me yesterday.

"I was...taking some time to reflect on my life and to rest."

"Oh! Time to reflect," he laughs, "that's heavy stuff."
 
 Later, as I'm out on a ticketing round he stops on his way to check on some steam lines down the road. "Now, Emma," he says, "it's not this part of your job that's causing you to reflect on your life is it?"

No, I tell him, this part is refreshing. He's funny, and likes to tell me stories from his life like how he, a college grad from New York City planning on going to law school, ended up in Oregon working on a ranch and about his girlfriend he had once who encouraged him to take up meditation with her but she broke his heart when she got a part as an extra in Animal House (1978) and was paid to kiss somebody.

Today he told me I should teach classes on "Life's Options."

The people I work with are pretty great. They tell me about their lives, their second jobs, their daughter's wedding plans, things their ancestors did in small towns that have disappeared. They tease me when I tell them about my trips to natural history museums and suggest that I'm really drinking moonshine out of the Mason jar I use for a water bottle at work. They put up with my nagging and sending them on errands about campus and making them fill out paper work.

But I'm learning I really don't do well starting work at 7:30 am. And keeping regular office hours is not my favorite. I'm trying to come up with ways to brain wash myself so I wake up excited, mostly so that I don't wake up at 4:30 and lay awake with dread at the thought of hearing an alarm clock soon. I'm already planning the next quilt I want to make with a bit more planning and with a sewing machine (!!!?!!?!) and wondering if I could really just pull myself together to make a living with the things I make. That will take some time and practice and mistakes I expect. Good thing that's what I'm already doing, taking time, practicing and making mistakes.

My eyes ache but I just really want to let you know some scary news in honor of halloween: guys, I think I may really like Taylor Swift.