"Remember, it's as easy to marry a rich woman as a poor woman." - William Makespeace

As I type this it's 95 outside and 95 inside. The next 90 minutes are the worst, the time between when the sun hits on the west side of MoHo full force, and low enough to shine on the living room window and the time it drops behind the tall fir trees to our west. We watch closely to see when the outside is cooler than the inside, and then we open windows beginning on the east side of MoHo.

Poor Sundae shows no signs of labor. She ate her evening meal with her usual gusto, and indication her body is not getting ready to kid. We'll stay home from church tomorrow on the assumption she'll go into labor at some point during the day. Her udder is HUGE and she walks like she has a basketball between her legs.

I was concerned about the month-old chicks in the coop, so I've been going out every hour or so and hosing down the roof. That quickly drops the inside temp 8-10 degrees, but it goes right  back up. Have you ever seen chicks pant? It's sad.

I (we) like living out in the woods. We're isolated enough that though we sometimes can hear our neighbors we can't see them through the trees. Many days are like today; we worked outside this morning and spent the rest of the day inside escaping the heat. Just the two of us, and that's fine. OK?

One of the things I enjoyed about being a prof was the constant intellectual stimulation. For me it came mostly from interactions with my students in and out of the classroom. Conversations with colleagues revolved mostly around teaching or administrative issues, rarely topics related to our teaching content or current events and the like. On any given day I'd spend several hours teaching in the classroom and, in upper division courses that meant back-and-forth with the students on course content. Those conversations often continued after class.

Most of the faculty who ate the noon meal on campus (free for profs) sat together. I much preferred to sit with students because I found them much more interesting, never mind the assist my teaching got from listening to them. I thoroughly enjoyed the both the classroom and the cafeteria, my favorite times/places on campus. (Put faculty meetings at the opposite end of that spectrum. You would not believe....)

So sometimes I have an experience like I did this morning. Pam and I sat on the front porch/deck for an hour or so before lunch. Unless you've been to Baker Rd. you can't imagine how beautiful the scenery and relaxing that setting, at least for us. The huge fir trees, the creek, the birds, the wildflowers, the goats, the fruit trees....
But every once in awhile I miss the spontaneous conversations that engage my brain, that make me think about new things, or old things in a new way.
I explore the internet a lot. Today I learned the definition of a coronet (no, it's not a small trumpet) and how to make a flaky pie crust (one of my next projects). But I miss the interaction of conversation, the dynamic back and forth with others.
Just about the only conversations I have that might develop into that kind of mental stimulation are at church, and most of those are just the standard chit chat. That's good, but doesn't scratch the itch. The old guys at the coffee shop have all kinds of knowledge and wisdom, but it's about things, not ideas. Our small group could (should?) provide an opportunity for thoughtful discussion but our leader is more inclined to "sharing." (ugh!)

Today I decided to start on a new article I've been asked to write, the one for that journal. It may sound weird, but that makes my brain work pretty hard as I interact with my imaginary reader, listening to his/her objections or "Huh??" Good, enjoyable, but not the same.

Do you ever get a hankering for intellectual interaction?