Yesterday, Mitch and I celebrated Independence Day by visiting our friends on Cayuga Lake, which is the second-largest of the Finger Lakes. Growing up in the Finger Lakes region means that we tend to take natural beauty, wineries, and freshwater for granted. We spent last July Fourth with the same friends on the same lake and it was a lot of fun to do it again.
Here are a few snapshots of the day, mostly from the area in and around the wineries:
Happy birthday, America!
Well, I’m certainly not going to win any points for blogging this summer! Life in Rochester at the moment is certainly much calmer and quieter than life travelling around Southeast Asia and trying to teach at a school trying desperately to prevent teaching. It’s certainly been a welcome calm.
Mitch has been interviewing for jobs across the country and I’ve been getting ready for my move to Singapore. I’ll be teaching three new courses come August. I’ve taught pieces of two of them before and none of the third, so I’m trying to get as much basic content work as possible completed before I go so I can focus on pedagogy and resources when I’m there. I didn’t plan to spend this summer working on the boat again, but one of the captains called me and begged, so I’m doing that, too.
And yes, my summer “office” is gorgeous.
Otherwise, this has been another chapter in my journey to find out who my real friends are. There are people in Rochester who I no longer feel the need to see, and people I wish were still interested in keeping in touch. On the other hand, there are people in Malaysia with whom I’m still in touch. I’m also in touch with friends who left Malaysia months ago, both of which make me happy. I’m trying really hard to focus on people who care about me now, not people who cared about me (or who I cared about) back in the day.
All this to say, I know I’ve been neglecting my blog. It’s not really been on my radar at all, with all this focusing on the here and now. Except a whole host of updates and regular posts when I get to Singapore in a little over two weeks. For now, enjoy the pictures of the Erie Canal! And, as always, thanks for reading.
A great pleasure since returning to the East Coast of the USA has been long evenings. The sun sets much later here in the summer than in Malaysia and Singapore. The Summer Solstice was two days ago; the sun rose at 5:31am and set at 8:54pm. Unfortunately, the days get shorter from here, leading to the Winter Solstice on December 21 when the sun will rise at 7:40am and set at 4:38pm. In Malaysia and Singapore the sun rises and sets between 7 and 7:30 all year long. Time doesn’t seem to pass nearly as quickly.
Last night, Mitch and I drove out to Mendon Ponds Park in the evening. Mendon Ponds is the largest of Monroe County’s parks with 2,500 acres of land and water. We stopped at Hundred Acre Pond to take in the spectacular view. (Please click on the picture – it’s a panorama and it shows up much more clearly when enlarged.)
As excited as I am to be returning to Southeast Asia, words cannot express my joy at being in such a beautiful place for the summer.
By Rebecca Michelle 