ColoRADo Fall

It's full-on fall in Colorado, and I'm once again reminded that this is my favorite season. I think I truly fell in love with the end-of-summer transition into colder weather when I ran cross-country in college. Days started with early-morning miles at sunrise--just for the sake of miles. Practice was at 4pm, which meant hills, drill, sprints, and race strategy, followed by huge team meals. I was running more than 70-miles a week back then, and didn't feel stretched thin. I just loved going as far as I could go.

These last few mornings in Colorado have felt like those CC days. You pick up the pace because the air is crisp and clean, and you just want to go faster. This morning I ran tempo--10x(2 minutes up, 2 minutes down). I tried to keep my ups between 7-flat and 7:15. The humidity was right around 30%. Weather like this makes it easy. 

The first ski slopes open this weekend. As much as I'm looking forward to winter--to becoming true Colorado and getting on skis more than twice this year (AND FAT TIRE BIKING)--I could hang onto fall for at least an extra month. Maybe I'll get my wish. The next 10 days look to be sunny with a high around 70 and a low around 40: literal perfect weather. Hopefully even faster splits. 

Thanks for spoiling me, Colorado! I just raked a few huge piles of leaves, and plan on playing in them with the pup!

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By definition, adjunct means, "a thing added to something else as a supplementary rather than an essential part." So, we know what we're getting into. Still, it sucks to be nonessential when you do essential things pretty well. There are 2 or 3 weeks before any given semester begins when adjunct instructors get to feel entirely essential. Today alone I've had two phone interviews and gotten no fewer than three other email inquiries about whether or not I can teach at X institution. Some of these are schools that I approached 6+ weeks ago, when I was putting my schedule for the fall together. I've played this game many times. So! Onward! I'm preparing to teach a class of all men (boys?) business majors at a private college. I'm teaching Leslie Jamison's The Empathy Exams. I planned this syllabus weeks and weeks ago, before I knew I'd have a class of all men, but now, it seems even more essential. Everyone needs to learn empathy. But maybe especially men. Maybe especially men, empathy toward women. Not that that's what this book is about. It's more about just seeing other people for who they are. Understanding lives that seem entirely different from your own. Jamison investigates super weird communities: people with obsessions and diseases, and biases. She writes beautifully about them. She becomes them, in a way. Someday I'd like to become a real teacher, with a living wage and reasonable benefits; but until then, I'll do my best at being essential, in a supplementary way.