Mid June and I'm still settling into the pace of summer. So far it has been awesome...tons of time to see people...a good paying but low-stress job which I'm enjoying. Self declared hours and a slightly unscheduled but productive pace.
My beans have popped out their 5th trifoliate (almost all of them) and are getting ready to flower. In the next two days my prof and I are going to head to Champaign and visit the U of I to borrow some supplies (nets, beetle traps, and a photosynthesis machine more technical than Millikin's) and talk to the team over there that did some similar research a few years ago. In many ways I feel out of my league in a research field...especially since I don't plan on spending much of my life investing in this area. But there is something pretty cool about science in this area...that thousands of people are heading up different projects all over the world...publishing numerous articles which may or may not ever be read by someone who needs the information. But this data production over time builds up into a wealth of knowledge for the good of science as a whole. So much work over so many years...and still so much more to go, but it's progress. There's got to be a life lesson in there somewhere.
Since I'm not working regulated hours and my professor has been out of town a bit recently, I've also been helping dad out at the office. He is drowning in loose copies of old, new, and still-being-considered music, and has a familiar (to me) way of throwing things into organized piles and suddenly ending up with very unorganized mountains. We are sifting through it all enough so that he can move some furniture and get organized for the year...then eventually I'll be sent to the dungeon of the choral library to sort, organize, and re-find 35 years worth of choral repertoire...which seems to slip out of alignment despite the computer and call system designed to keep it in order.
The family has also been preparing for the evidently traumatic experience of painting the upper level in our house. While my father is quite handy and the family quite excited about the prospect, we are evidently allergic to the thought of changing that many features of our household. I keep trying to explain that the cool thing about paint is that it can be painted over...but no one seems to think that this is a good way to justify the Nike mantra, "just do it."
We have looked at every paint swatch and spectrum in every hardware store in town. We have studied rugs in warehouses, stores, and online galleries. We have debated wood or white trim and been seen moving long strips of baseboard to different parts of the house, setting them up in their proposed spaces and taking in the view. After 3 weeks of considerations and debate we have finally made a grand victory. We bought a rug. One rug. 30 square feet of wool and (scary movie music here) color. My mother tells me that this decision will catapult us into making the rest very quickly and that paint will be on the walls in a matter of days. My money is on a date in mid July...or sometime in November.
Don't let me fool you with all of my talk of progressive projects and hard work...there has been plenty of time for play the last few days as well. We have been out on the boat quite a bit recently...stretching out the old muscles and trying to get them used to the glorious strain of water sports. I learned to drop a ski the other night and actually slalom skied for a few minutes. Much fun and a good new challenge. I also grudgingly jumped in the water with a wake board for a few minutes, determined not to let my humiliation from last summer keep me from ever trying it again. My success was approximately the same as an elephant who tries to climb a palm tree, with phrases like "face plant" and "dead weight" being used frequently. Oh well...you can't say I didn't try.
Good chats with some friends of late, catching up on the past year and talking about the present struggles and future choices, responsibilities, fears, and anticipations. It's amazing to already be talking about grad school...to be having real conversations about where we will live, when we will marry, and where our careers may take us. We all pray to stay true to our God and to follow him fully. We all desire to respect our roots but learn to truly chart our own course. We already see that we will pursue this in drastically different ways. Our lives will not follow the same imprint, neither will our choices and values reflect the same priorities. It is scary to think that in 10 years we may even see choices made by people we grew up next to that somehow seem completely off base. We must continue to pray that God will give us grace to see beauty and value in this diversity, while also giving us the courage to stand up to the challenges and decisions he has placed in front of us individually.
Well, enough blabbing for now...I'm off to get ready for bible study tonight...perhaps I'll eat some choral soy on the way as well. Its pretty good for you I'm told.
Blessings~
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