Yeah, I know, I know… but I haven’t given up on the blog yet. So I’ll get to it.
This morning, I got my second dose of the Pfizer vaccine, having received the first one on 6 March. Both shots were administered at a drive-through (Park-and-poke?) at my doctor’s office, with shots and paperwork handled by office staff, and traffic directed by members of the National Guard. Mrs. M got Round 2 six days ago, and while she was a little peakish the following day, she didn’t even miss a day in the classroom. On the chance that I get the couple of days’ malaise some folks report after the second shot, I got a bit ahead on my lecturing.
I’ve talked before about my great-uncle, Charles Nelson Calhoun. He was born about 35 miles from Mondoville, and is buried there as well. He traveled all over the world as a chemist and corporate troubleshooter, and though he never married after having his heart broken in college, he lived with an eye for the ladies and for a good time. His tombstone in the Calhoun family plot reflects that.
As I said, Uncle Charles was a chemist — he earned his degree at Clemson back in the 1930s before entering corporate life, working for… Pfizer. And as I mentioned above, that’s the vaccine that Mrs. M and I both received. As I began my drive home after my post-jab waiting period, I thought that he’d be tickled that we were able to benefit from the company where he spent his career. (And were he still here, I suspect he’d also be tickled with his company stock, but that’s another story.)
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I’m really pleased to have reached this point in the process, because it opens me up for safe travel this summer and for returning to the classroom this fall. I’ll be teaching three sections of FroshComp that term, along with my Restoration/Long 18th C. course (or as I think of it, Milton to Johnson). And I’m really looking forward to getting to some rock and roll shows before long, and maybe even playing some. Bits of life are beginning to return to normal — sporting events have resumed on campus, although with limited seating. But the athletic director has said we hope to have the houses packed again with the new school year, and I’m looking forward to being there.
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In other news, the Spawn’s birthday is coming in a couple of days, and although we’ll have to wait until summer to get together, she and the Main Squeeze continue to live quite happily in Terpville. She’ll be doing her field study for her Museum Studies cognate/emphasis/whatever they call it up there this fall, and she’s really excited about that. In a little over a year, she’ll be wrapping up her degree, and then we’ll see what happens. I’m excited for her as well.
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As I mentioned last month, while I am writing — a lot — it has pretty much all been in the form of lectures/lessons for this semester’s classes. All the same, I do plan to produce some creative work in the weeks ahead, and have committed to a couple of projects. More on these as things develop.
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And at last, I’ll close this with some music. During my sabbatical, one of the stories I wrote was inspired by a couple of things. One was a pen-and-ink drawing my dad did of a sawmill near where my mom’s family grew up. The other was this song, by Mississippi John Hurt. I think I like it so much because it’s just so darned affable. So here’s Mr. Hurt, with “Let the Mermaids Flirt with Me.” (And despite the title from the YouTuber, this is clearly not from the 1928 sessions.)
See you soon — and I mean it.
Professor Mondo 