Almost done. Just submitted grades for the class I teach (mostly). Turned in my projects. Moving all my stuff (in progress). Leaving tomorrow (hopefully).

Staying in school till the middle of June is a bit disorienting. It’s that time of year when, whether it’s supposed to or not, my runs take on a sometimes hallucinatory experience. The middle of the day under a 95* sun lets you see things differently, or rather think about the things you see a little more. It’s a beautiful sight, that pale skinned girl in the red dress by herself on the trail 100 yards away … until you see a face full of acne. It’s a curious sight, the scrawny Southeast Asian fellow with blue jeans, a ringer t-shirt, designer glasses and street shoes charging in the open sun. Continue to another gap of nothingness. Only evenly spaced half grown trees on my left and a carefully manicured lawn leading down, level by level, into the purposefully carved banks of a river not there 20 years ago. The sky is so huge and on a day this hot I’m not sure if it’s pressing down on my or begging me to be freed in its expanse and float away….
and the river is too brown to offer any relief – visual, imaginative or actual.

Oh well, things are on the change here and the future looks hopeful. I’ll be traveling this summer as a photography fellow for a few non-profit organizations, doing documentary work on sustainable forestry and rural living in Wisconsin, Michigan, Missouri and possibly other areas in the Great Lakes region. I’m not sure I could have dreamed up a better summer opportunity (okay, that’s an exaggeration but this is pretty good) and they are letting me base out of Chi-town so I can get some work done at home. Home .. 2 days. Will be nice to sleep, relax, see friends. The one downside is I have to drop off this girl at the airport and not see her for half of a year as she works and plays in Central Asia and London for awhile. I’ll miss you much if you read this.

Oh, and a picture from the end of the year picnic. This is my friend Kainaz, look for her name by the pictures in your U.S. News and World Report this summer.