Newness for a New Year

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Distractions from Grading

For those of you who know my teaching habits, or if you have ever had a stack of papers to grade, you know how easy it is to be distracted. Do you ever have moments when you are taken back to a memory that brings you pure happiness? This is my distraction for the evening.

Tonight, I was browsing through my pictures and I found these four. The first is of the stunning countryside in Southern France, at the Abbey I stayed at. It was like Brigadoon, rising out of the lush green hills.
The second comes from a touring day in Southern France. The Abbey provided a sack lunch that day, that consisted of a tomato, a hard boiled egg, some cheese, and an entire baguette (to share of course). Well, that isn't easy to pack around. So, in true European fashion, I attached it to my bag and kept touring. It worked well and no one seemed to mind that the bread had been strapped to my bag all morning (another distinctly European experience--bread without bags--incredibly unsanitary and yet no one cares).
And the last is a statue I came to love. I would walk there every morning and evening to study and relax. It stood at the top of the middle road at the Abbey. It is lovely.


2 comments:

Alisa said...

I too have a very tender spot for Pres. Kimball. He died Nov. 5 to be exact and I remember coming home from school and being told and crying and crying. I like that as I read and remembered Pres. Kimball I had your beautiful statue to look at. My first thoughts on seeing it were how calming and serene it seemed to be. Strong and steadfast yet soft and tender at the same time. Very much like you, Breanne. Thank you for the visual and the rememberance.

Anonymous said...

Pictures are indeed great distractions. When I was writing my Thesis and I stopped to "think" for a while my screen saver would start flipping through all my pictures and it was so refreshing--a nice reminder that life beyond writer's block does exist. It was a nice way to put a gloss on my life because, let's face it, in the angst of the thesis (or grading) anything else seems unbelievably wonderful!
P.S Isn't it great to be done with grading? Now I am just waiting for the complaints to start rolling in once the grades are posted.