Today was cloudy when I woke, sunny in mid-day and cloudy again by late afternoon. The temperature was warmer than the past couple of days, but without the sun it didn't feel as warm. So it was a mixture of a day. My activities were mixed, too. I had an appointment after which I got some groceries and then went to campus to check mail and print a few things. While there, I spoke with a few people who I haven't gotten to see too often. That felt so good. I miss seeing folks with some regularity. I expected this to happen when I retired, since much of my social world has revolved around work for most of my working life. Having an office on campus to do research work, helped in the beginning. I visited two or three afternoons each week and got to see colleagues. Then COVID arrived and those visits to the office became much less frequent. Much of the research and writing that I expected to spend time on required further archival searching in the US and UK -- definitely not something that was happening over much of the past two years. The university wasn't supporting any international travel during that time period, and the funds for my research travel are administered through the university. So, now things are slowly opening up, so there is a glimmer of hope -- hope to be able to complete the research and hope to be able to see friends and colleagues more often.
Now -- I'm being cautiously optimistic about this possible restart to research and travel and such. It does make me feel good to have just that bit of hope. The lyrics of a song ran through my mind today. The version shared is by a Canadian crooner. Be safe. Enjoy!
How I Feel -- Michael Buble
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