Positivity and Lavender

The lavender is past its peak in August, and it's a little beaten down by the rain. The bees don't mind, though, and neither do I since the smell is still wonderful if you walk by and brush your hands over the flowers. Although all the flowers on the trees are long gone, there's a rose garden right near the edge of the road on the steepest hill of my walk, and the smell of those roses encourages me on the climb. And there's lavender all along the way, and it'll still be there, and flowering, for a few weeks yet.

It's the same way with the summer. Yes, I'll need to get classes ready and ramp up for the semester, but I wanted to inject a little positivity (h/t Dr. Crazy) into these last few weeks and stop worrying about what didn't get done or any academic craziness to come. I want to concentrate on finishing up the projects that need to get finished and be open to the excitement of the new semester. I want to stop thinking about the problems of academia at large, which I can do absolutely nothing about, and take a break from IHE and the Chronicle for a couple of weeks. When the lavender flowers have finally closed and are ready to be cut and dried, maybe I'll be ready to think about the rest of it. Maybe.