summer recap

I know it's cliche to say that time goes by faster as you get older, but, seriously, where did the summer go? I can count on the calendar that I spent 7 weeks in California, but it passed by ridiculously quickly. I'm now back in Chicago, currently subletting a place in Hyde Park, teaching a seminar called "The Environment and International Security" and trying to get my dissertation in gear. The first two things are going well (big, convenient place and bright-eyed and bushy-tailed undergrads) and I'm hoping that my new committee chair might help jump-start the last one.

But, to catch people up on the post-Morocco summer...
First, road trip! L and I spent 4 days trolling Highway 80: a fairly leisurely pace that gave us time for sightseeing. The first day, we stopped at the Amana colonies in Iowa (German immigrants, now famous for their refrigerators and fruit wines) and spent the night at a funky 1960s motel in Omaha. The next morning, we dropped in at a coffeeshop in Lincoln, NE that I remembered from previous cross-country trips. On the bulletin board was a flyer inviting people to "bad-ass epic vegan potlucks"--ah, college towns. Later that day, we visited Fort Bridger and a few more Oregon Trail-esque sights, including a Pony Express station and a pioneer "sod house." We also stopped in Cheyenne, WY for dinner at a brew pub L remembered; while waiting for a table, we checked out the seventies cover-band concert in the town square. We camped on the continental divide in Rawlings and, before leaving town, glimpsed a local dog show, got donuts a Mennonite bakery, and saw a sign for the upcoming "Testicle Festival." For lunch, we stopped in Evanston, WY where, on a whim, we followed hand-lettered signs to a mysterious "Roundhouse Festival" which turned out to be a model train fair in a newly restored railway roundhouse. After a quick trip through Utah (saw the temple from the freeway?) we spent the last night in Elko, NV, where we had an enormous dinner at a Basque restaurant after being accosted by local Obama 2008 volunteers who were trying to convince us to stick around for the town hall he'd be attending the next day.

Throughout the trip, we passed the time reading the new Harry Potter aloud. I haven't read aloud/been read to in ages, and it was a great way to pass the time, especially with a book that keeps you on the edge of your seat. I know the reviews for this one have been mixed, but I loved it. And, being the teary type, spent more than a few paragraphs snuffling as I read (hey, you try getting through the last bit where Harry's walking through the forest without getting choked up!)

In Oakland, I was moderately successful at balancing work (class prep and research for a Chicago faculty member--happily on the same subject) and socializing. L and I met more of eachother's extended families, mine at a birthday party for one of my grandmothers. We also joined my parents for a long weekend in Yosemite: camped out, rented bikes, hiked, heard ranger stories about bears, ate s'mores and enjoyed the views.

It was a challenge to come back to Chicago, even though I've been missing people here and probably needed an infusion of academia. For the people I didn't see in CA, I'll be back in town in December. My phone number here is the same as before and, if anyone needs my current address, just shoot me an email.