some pictures

Reflections

The stairs at City Museum

Habitat for Humanity Build--Adam and I were cutting the boards

Habitat for Humanity--after a rain shower, lots of mud and some house building

my job and my life

Sometimes it's hard to distinguish between the role of my job from the rest of my life.  I mean, the line is easily blurred because I still live in College Housing. (Two notes about that: 1.  It's a great way to say money and live nicely. 2.  I've made my apartment to feel completely different from the atmosphere of a college dorm.)  But, when I go home from my office, I'm still at work.  I have to address issues that I see when walking somewhere on campus.  Do you know how hard it is to always be "on call" and alert and ready to be seen as the "bad guy?"  It's certainly not easy.  But, I do like a challenge.

So, let me talk (er, write) a little more about this strange dichotomy that exists between being available to the students and seeking a balance in my life.  Some staff here would say that you need to make sure that you have time for yourself.  Others would focus on being available to the students with whom you work--get involved.  And, most would say that we all need to find a balance between those two things, get involved and get a life of your own...outside...away from the campus gates.  I just don't know how to do it.

I look at my life right now.  See, this weekend was suppose to be pretty relaxed.  Chill.  Lots of down time to recover from the crazy month of August.  But, now, I'm looking at what I've got to do and I'm like, "where did all of these commitments come from?"  I worked with my boss to get her to agree to talk about my having a dog in my apartment.  And, that alone was a great victory.  But, looking at the situation from a responsible mindset, I realized that it would not be fair to the dog that I would own.  I'm not home enough, on a regular basis, for the dog to receive the love and attention that it would deserve.  I believe that many people in my profession, especially those in Residence Life and Student Activities, feel this burden.  How can I even think about settling down when I'm not capable of dutifully attending to a pet?  I imagine a husband (and one day kids) would require more time than a dog.

hurricane season

So, it seems like September is shaping up to be an exciting month in the Atlantic Ocean.  That's not surprising, since the past two years have been relatively tame.  I think that the Southeast depends on some activity to generate rain during the drier months, though it's certainly a struggle.  I mean, hurricanes bring rain, but they also bring wind gusts, storm surges and random tornadoes.  

I think any kid who grew up in a state with a coast has a story about that one big hurricane.  Mine was Hugo.  I was 10, in the Fifth grade, and I thought it was awesome.  I imagine, in fact I know, that my parents viewed it quite differently...especially since they were parents and property owners.  To me, it was an extended vacation.  Sort of like a long camping trip at home.  I mean, we didn't have power for a while and we didn't go to school for a while longer.  I remember a picture of the boats from the Charleston Harbor that landed in the middle of downtown streets after the storm surge receded.  But, what I remember more, was how "perfect" of a storm Hugo was.

You can google the images of Hugo.  They're quite different from the images of Katrina.  We didn't suffer the extensive flooding like the Gulf Coast did.  But, we had some spectacular images.  The Ben Sawyer Bridge turned and shoved into the river.  The side torn completely off of the hotel that sits on the Battery.  The boats in the middle of the roads.  And, all of the trees without tops.  I think was is actually really amazing is that Hugo was still a category 1 hurricane by the time it reached Charlotte, NC.  That alone demonstrates how compact, dense and, perhaps, perfect the storm really was.