A Time for Nothing

 I'm done putting together my classes for Spring, which was my task for the winter break. Now what? My mind is all for relaxing and hiding from my work in progress, but I'll probably do something with that during break.

I feel like I could sleep forever. I just got up and I'm already wanting to go back to bed. I don't know if this is latent depression or I'm just so relieved to be done with the semester that I'm catching up on time without thinking. 

The semester must have been far worse than I'm registering. I tend to be stoic and plow through the semester with blinders on, not stopping to lament much (other than my lamenting about lack of writers' retreats in these pages). 

And now, because of COVID, I have no choice but to relax. No visit to my dad and sister, no going out shopping, maybe a stop at the Board Game Cafe if it's not crowded, but ... 

So I'm working on relaxing. 

On the Lake Shore Limited

So I'm on the Lake Shore Limited, barreling toward Chicago. I think I'm still in Ohio -- nope, according to Google Maps, I'm near Goshen, Indiana. The train is apparently running two and a half hours late, and I'm hoping we're not any later because we need to connect with the next train in Chicago, and we don't have that much layover.

Meanwhile, breakfast was spent in the cafe car with the most beautiful scenery on the trip: the sunrise over Sheldon Marsh Nature Preserve, with a still pool of water on each side of the train tracks. The view was like this: (Click for video)

My adventure is close to ending, and the beginning of the semester is about to begin. For me, that means teaching human services classes at Northwest Missouri State University. I've already put together some homework in case I don't make it home in time (as I've said, we're spectacularly late). Here's hoping for a good semester!