Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Breaking the ice

I’ve had a fairly high level of anxiety about getting back into the swing of things again and meeting with my advisor, S.L., for the first time. I went over to school yesterday and was greeted by the sight of his closed office door; the secretaries told me he was out at meetings. So I was off the hook, for the moment at least. Some other people were around, so I started to catch up with friends/co-workers I hadn’t seen in a year.

Then yesterday evening I went running—feeling all doughy and lethargic from more than a year without serious training. I left the house and headed towards the park, just hoping that I wouldn’t see anyone I knew in my saddened state. I hadn’t even gone a mile when a cyclist on the other side of the road called out, “Melissa!” I had no idea who it was. As the cyclist crossed over to meet me, I realized that it was none other than S.L. I’d forgotten—he has a garden plot over at the park and sometimes he heads over there on his way home from school. And so we met, in quite an unceremonious setting, but I suppose it was a good way to break the ice. In addition to the expected warning that I need to use my time wisely and crank out a good dissertation, he also offered me sweet corn from his garden (I declined, being that I was in the middle of a run). And Jodi, if you are reading, I did not get a hug, which under the circumstances was probably good, since we both had been exercising in the humidity.

I returned to school today and finally met briefly with S.L. in his office. I didn’t really have anything coherent to say to him, but somehow I managed to string together some of the high points of the research, and he seemed moderately impressed with my findings.

This evening Rob and I rode Big Red (that’s our tandem bike) over to the park for running club. It was really great to see so many familiar faces; I was even able to keep up with my buddy Norm just like the good old days. Rob actually did the run as well. Chronic knee problems have kept him sidelined for the most part since 2004, but for some reason he felt like giving it another try tonight. He promised to take it easy and run on the grass rather than the concrete sidewalk. He must have felt good because he sped up towards the end, and I wasn’t about to let him take off alone. We finished the 3-mile loop together, ending with an 8-minute mile, which under the circumstances, was fast for both of us. So far his knee is fine; hopefully he will say the same thing in the morning.

After the run and more chatting with old friends, we rode home on Big Red and had a dinner of vegetarian chili. I must say that I did pretty well making it; I guess cooking is like riding a bike—even after a year without cooking at all, it comes right back to you once its time to start again.

I know its not about Nicaragua anymore, but for some reason, I still keep blogging. Thanks for reading.

Oh, and David, if you’re reading, happy birthday.

2 Comments:

At 3:16 AM, August 22, 2007, Blogger amypfan said...

Good--you must keep blogging. I start my day (today beginning at 5:00) with checking friends' blogs, so don't disappoint. :) Glad to hear that Rob's knee is holding up (at least temporarily) and that you're getting back into the swing of things. Isn't it funny how easily we fall back into our old lives?

 
At 7:39 PM, August 25, 2007, Anonymous Anonymous said...

You keep writin' and we'll keep readin'
Hey, just watch those knees...
Mom Scho

 

Post a Comment

<< Home