Slowdown update

It looks like the blog slowdown has un-slowed. Not sure why, since I am still in hiding for another day and a half. (Could it be... procrastination? Surely I didn't suddenly acquire more wisdom, valuable information, or literary talent.)

Why another day and a half?

'cause we have to be back at work on Tuesday.

Not that I haven't been working. There's the planning for the conference on the racial history of the diocese, the Anti-Racism Committee (which is having its annual retreat day next weekend), proofreading the new edition of the book on prayer and sending it back to the publisher and also filling in very long and detailed "author questionnaire" for the p.r. and marketing division, ongoing and heavy work on a piece of Massively Overdue Theological Writing, the monthly column for the Episcopal Café (speaking of overdue, I must write another essay in the next couple of days), designing my new little course for the diocesan Deacon Formation Program which begins in September, local churchy things, and of course housework.

Also, I had to cancel one of my (three) fall courses due to low enrollment (I think the word "theology" scares people away and I am going to banish it from the course title and offer the course again next semester and see what happens) and replace it with another one -- a 101 course that always draws students but that I wasn't going to teach again till spring semester and don't really have time to revise as I'd planned, since this just happened in the last few weeks, when I was spending time off with my family and then had some previously scheduled projects on deck.

Anyway, we faculty are due back, so the literature says, on the 15th of August, but due to this year's academic calendar we are really due back on the 12th. That's Tuesday. We have an all-day mandatory faculty-staff meeting. On Wednesday there's an almost-all-day Advising Workshop (to continue teaching us how to be good academic advisors). On Friday I am scheduled to be in my office all day to advise transfer students. Then classes start on Monday, August 18. Two weeks before Labor Day. (And the college does not take Labor Day off.)

So, "fall" is upon us here even as the summer heat continues and the tomatoes grow in the gardens and the bugs bite and the lemonade chills in the fridge.

Meanwhile, I went to bed and slept for most of the afternoon (when in doubt, sleep) and Her Grace, the Feline Bishop Extraordinaire, is finally about to issue her pastoral letter on naps.

Stay tuned.

P.S. I'm not any more busy than the rest of you workers in the vineyard out there. I just happen to talk about it once in a while. Really. And I don't have children or elders to care for, speaking of huge and busy occupations.