Liminality and baby chickens

Each quarter that I teach, I spend the gap between classes and final grading in a mood of suspended action, puttering through small tasks on my to-do list while waiting for the end-of-term papers to arrive.

Small tasks:

  • Grade the tiny assignment for the one student who handed it in very late (with permission)
  • Check the piece submitted by a student from last year who is finishing an incomplete
  • Email with colleagues in Michigan and Illinois about a possible panel for a conference in October (proposals due in 9 days)
  • Email with colleagues here about a meeting on the 7th
  • Draft a letter of recommendation for an undergraduate to be admitted into the honors program (due at the end of the month)
And so on. I'm also holding extra office hours -- hanging out in the library in case students want to drop by with their final pieces -- for three hours on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday this week. Yesterday eight students showed up.

Final work is due for both classes tomorrow early evening, then my TAs and I have 72 hours to grade. And then, spring break! I might sleep the entire week, when I am not felting. (The felting obsession continues unabated.)

Also, we have a new flock of chickie babies. Meet Zoom, Shtock, Shtock, and HaHaha:


One of them is hidden, but we're not sure who since we don't know yet which name goes with which chickie, though we do know that Shtock and Shtock will be the middle-sized ones, when the pecking order is sorted out. (The names come from here; jump to 2:56 for the relevant part.)

The Catacats are entranced.





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