Doctor Grandma

May 1st, 2010.

End of Semester, end of school year. Monday is the last day of finals. I will give one on Monday, grade it, and be done for the semester! It is hard to express how happy I am to have the summer(s) off. Never had that before in my entire working life. For many years of grad school, I taught school during the summers for extra money. Before I lived my life according to academics, I had a full time job which only continued through the summer, with maybe one or two weeks off per year. Never had money for vacation anyway.

Today has been a good day. Al, Levin and I went downtown to a Crawfish Festival where “THEY” ate a plate full of bright orange crawfish, by pulling the body apart, getting the meat loose inside, and sucking the head for the spicy juices. That kind of thing has always made me rather sick to my stomach, even though I know in my heart, that killing chickens is just as gross. It’s just that they’re not served with the heads still on, and you don’t suck on their brains for the “juice”. I watched while they ate. I had nachos with cheese, and a corn dog.

Living in the south, one thing for sure, we are spoiled for DELICIOUS and FRESH seafood, ALL the time, everywhere, every day. There are little diners with fresh fish that are only open Thurs.–Sat. nights.

We settled on a new truck for AL today. I am very happy for him. He finally will have his own vehicle (thank God!) and he gets a truck, which he has always wanted since the last one we had, which was back in the late 80s to early 90s? So it will come in about a week. We will have a budget that works, but we will be eating at home a LOT more often.

This summer, I plan to send my book chapters to a publisher, try to get that goal of my life accomplished. Three different publishers have WANTED my book. I have a knack for “hot” topics! Always got into conferences that way, maybe will be published that way. Can’t wait to go into my office and not have to prepare the next class (until next AUGUST), hallelujah.

There’s a lot more, but I will end for now.

“God has created the world as one — the boundaries are marked out by man. God has not divided the lands, but each man has his house and meadow; horses and dogs do not divide the fields into parts. That is why Bahá’u’lláh says: “Let not a man glory in that he loves his country, but that he loves his kind.” All are of one family, one race; all are human beings. Differences as to the partition of lands should not be the cause of separation among the people.

. . . My hope is that the Divine Light may shine here, and that the Heavenly Star of Bahá’u’lláh may strengthen you, so that you may be the cause of the oneness of humanity, that you may help to make the darkness of superstition and prejudice disappear and unite all creeds and nations.

This is a brilliant century. Eyes are now open to the beauty of the oneness of humanity, of love and of brotherhood. The darkness of suppression will disappear and the light of unity will shine. We cannot bring love and unity to pass merely by talking of it. Knowledge is not enough. Wealth, science, education are good, we know: but we must also work and study to bring to maturity the fruit of knowledge.”   (Abdu’l-Baha, Abdu’l-Baha in London, p. 53)