Another moderately productive day...

I thought I had done more work on the Nature in Lit handouts than was in fact the case, so although I had other plans for my time today, I've been hacking my way through that underbrush--and I think I have things cleared out relatively well.

One thing I've noticed in terms of all my syllabi: because the various fall holidays create a 16-week semester (instead of the more usual 15), I can stretch things out a bit. What that means for Nature in Lit is I can space the essay assignments out a bit more evenly; last semester, essay 2 followed very fast on the heels of essay 1, which is simply not a grand idea. I did think about adding air in other places, but what I ended up doing was moving the first essay to be due before the students read Thoreau. Although it would make sense to include Thoreau with Emerson and Whitman, I'm actually going to use "Walking" to transition to a slightly different take on "nature" and "nature writing." The topics I have for essay 2 easily accommodate what he's talking about in that essay--and I've divided it up into two weeks, hoping (probably in vain) that the students will work on reading a little more carefully.

I had also thought about ditching some readings that seemed problematic in the spring, but in a mood of defiance, I've decided to keep them. Nothing that I've assigned--nothing--should be outside the grasp of a college sophomore, though much of it will be challenging. But challenge is good (she says, knowing that she also sometimes will try to duck a challenge).

Part of me would really like to keep working, in fact: it is hitting home how much I "need" to do before the semester starts, how little I've done, and how little time there is left before the roller-coaster leaves the platform. But I have errands to run that are time sensitive (for instance, the post office closes at 5), so I'm going to call an early halt to all this. I have nothing on my calendar the next few days, thank God, so I'm hoping I can knock off as much of the prep as possible--and, as an added bonus--avoiding the worst of each day's heat.

Seems there was something else of interest I had in mind to say, but heaven only knows what it was--if indeed there was anything at all. Whatever. We all know what tomorrow is, correct? That's right! It's another day!!