I guess this is the motherlode for a squirrel.
Month: February 2010
Little Rock’s first snow of any significance in 7 years (according to the news) happened this week. Abby was so excited she got dressed in record time, and all by herself to boot. She never does that on a school day.
Her first snowman.
Sometimes I’m a stupid, stupid man. When I got up at 5:30 Saturday morning to head up to King’s Bluff Falls north of Russellville, I had it in my head that the temperature was going to be in the 40s and the sun would be out part of the time. (In my defense, I got that from the weather forecast.) I donned my thin silk long underwear and put on my old New Balance running shoes over a pair of heavy wool socks. I also took two fleece jackets and thought I might be overdoing it in the warm clothes department. I was startled to find snow still on the ground when I turned north from Russellville on Highway 7. And when I got to the parking lot at the trail head, it was flat cold and the wind was whipping over the mountaintop. No sun was showing and wouldn’t the whole day. A good day for waterfall shooting, but bad for staying warm. The nice thing about the overcast and the wet ground is that the colors really saturate in the photos.
One thing I never expected to happen in my whole life is getting an e-mail declaring I had made an “exemplary academic accomplishment.” Some guy named Larry Burns sent me the e-mail this week (to which he had forged the name of the president of the University of Central Arkansas) informing me that I have been named to the Presidential Scholars List. I assume it’s because I made straight A’s for the summer and fall semesters.
I’ve never made straight A’s before. In fact, I don’t think I ever made straight A’s and B’s. Not even in first grade. Back when I was going to school at the age you’re supposed to go to school I was not into homework and paying attention in class and all that. It’s truly a miracle that I got a college degree from a minor state college in Kansas. I realize we’re not talking Harvard here, but still.
And it’s kinda lame that all I got was an e-mail, no certificate, not even a real signature from a major UCA dignitary. But I’d like to join Larry Burns and possibly Dr. Allen C. Meadors in thanking those of you “who may have encouraged [me] toward this exemplary academic accomplishment.”