Kindergarten and College Blues

I must apologize to anyone who stopped by in the past week. I had planned for a week long vacation, but neglected to plan for the usual chaos on my return, so it turned out to be more like two. Today was my son's first day of kindergarten, so we've been preparing supplies and talking about the "big kid school." I can't remember... was it that scary and exciting for us, as kindergarteners? Or has it always been more of an emotional struggle for the parents? Of course, my nerves are always shot on the first day of class, even in college. I also started classes this week. I realized that microbiology was going to be a cool class, but I seriously needed to refresh my studies of biochemistry. (I'll be drawing out the molecules involved in glycolysis all weekend, just for practice.) Then came the other unexpected variable. I caught a cold. It seems ironic that I would get sick just as I started studying pathogens. (It happened to me the first time I read King's The Stand, too.)

Take these back-to-school days and vacation recovery, add a cold, and throw in a little writer's block, and you have one very neglected blog.

I found the cause of the writer's block, at least. I've spent some time discussing the nature of values. At first, I was dealing with the concept from a metaphysical standpoint... examining what values consist of, and the ways they fit into our reality. Then, with my repost of my "Schrodinger's Apple" dream, the subject turned to ethics and morality. That's where it gets sticky. Morality is an issue that affects us on many levels, including the deeply personal, where judging actions can impact the self esteem. I've been trying to find ways to discuss these issues, without getting too personal, or having an effect on my daily life. Of course, the more I tried to avoid it, the greater the effect became. I suppose that's where the poem came from... I ought to remember to ride the waves more often, since I advise others to do the same.

Perhaps while I worry about more down-to-earth issues, such as my child at school or fighting my cold, I'll be able to catch up, on science and philosophy posts, as well as the replies to recent comments and the backlog of e-mails waiting in my box. Just in case, I'm going to postpone the weekly fractal to later in the weekend, probably to Sunday at the latest. Thank you all for your patience.

Allow me to leave you with this happy/sad image:

i-1c56d064c818d3290936f11cc073139a-firstday.jpg

The First Day of School

I thought the expressions on the parent's faces, a mixture of pride and sadness, was even more precious than the smiles on the kids as they walked in and lined up for class... but I didn't think they'd appreciate my capturing the moment on film.

More like this

Cute kid.... and thanks for the memories, although now I feel a lot older, as out youngest just started Jr. High, which I guess is another benchmark.

ps: Chicken Soup....

Hi karmen!

Hope you feel better soon, and don't you be spreading "Captain Trips" all over the place, ok?
My suggestion: get on the couch with a blanket, a nice book and a cuppa tea.
Your last posts look interesting, I'll be back to read them more thoroughly tomorrow. (No time now, I've got a date with someone almost as interesting as you :)

Kidding, but hey, I got you smiling there for a moment,no?
Feel better soon!
Kim

Awww, too cute.

Kindergarten for me was scary because of one thing: The Bus.

I never went to any preschool and for my kindergarten year my family lived alone on a small island. Grade one was a HUGE shock. I wonder if it was more or less of a shock for my friend, whose Hungarian parents didn't bother to tell him that everyone else would be speaking a language he didn't understand...

We're right behind y'all - it was stressful enough with the move of PharmPreschooler to PharmPreK'er, so we'll be in your shoes next year.

I'm not even teaching until Nov and I'm getting panicky just because this time of year reminds me of embarking on my largest block of lectures at the old U. Just seeing the students around town raises my basal anxiety level.

Rest when you can and don't put undue pressure on yourself about your readers or those filling your e-mail box. We're all riding waves of our own. Take care of yourself!

Thanks, everyone, for your wishes. My son is doing great at kindergarten, even (eventually) successfully taking the bus.

Oh, and J-Dog, chicken soup did help!