the illumination of leaves

with each celestial breath, the maples wistfully depart with summer’s translucent passing. magenta, rust and goldenrod glide earthbound toward the depths of memory.

the illumination of leaves in their gentle departure, bare the branches of heart; and in letting go, the promise of a new season insulates the now quiescent spring. change brings ecstatic pain.


after spending the past month contemplating my life course, i wonder now how all has transpired…or where i may find myself to be next time, this season. i hope i will find solace in the choices i have made and that the path that i have chosen will widen with each step forward.

like the sun following its ritualistic path across the sky, i too trace how each day informs my being and becoming.

birthday presents

while my birthday was officially last week, september certainly was a birthday month. i couldn't have asked for a better gift into my 35th year than what i received after my interview at the university.

i got the job.

so the past three weeks have been a whirlwind of becoming acclimated to the realities of assistant professorship. for me this has included inheriting a program we are beginning in las vegas. this entails offering courses in our department onsite in sin city. and though it seems simple enough to offer a master's class here and there at our sister site, the pragmatics of it are beyond complicated. oy.

and i'm also responsible for reconfiguring a certificate program that the department has offered, but has fallen by the wayside as of late. part of this task took me here:

and here....

and here......

yep, washington dc. for four days i had to meet with some heavy hitters and play financial hardball. this is not an easy game for me to play given that i have never represented a whole academic institution. but once the meetings concluded, i did do some sightseeing and was enthralled by the immense history this city has to offer. in essence, being there offered me the time to decompress over what i had experienced for the past 3 weeks and reflect on where i was going when i got back to denver. a much needed birthday present.

life is good and though i'm a bit frayed around the edges, needing quite a bit of more sleep everyday, i wouldn't change a thing professionally.