Gratitude List (Nov. 2 – 15)

Since I did not publish a list last week, I am posting a double-length one today.

1. I voted early
2. Physics Lunch Club (Nov. 2)
3. My students are starting to assemble parts for our next lab project
4. We now have a fully assembled new computer in the lab
5. Yoga class
6. Dinner with the new band director and her husband
7. Introducing them to one of our favorite restaurants
8. Wonderful conversation over dinner
9. Sharing a little bit about black holes and gravitational waves
10. A deep, well-written, and very personal story of grief over divorce at The Well (Nov. 6)
11. Having friends from different parts of the political spectra
12. Buying kombucha for my wife
13. Unseasonably warm and sunny weather
14. Learning about my department head’s research through his colloquia
15. Important and useful meeting about applying for funding renewal
16. Despite not being a baseball fan, I was kept updated on the World Series by my friends from Ohio and Illinois
17. Physics Lunch Club at Firehouse (Nov. 9)
18. The weather was nice enough to eat outside at Firehouse!
19. My colleagues who I have gotten to know through lunches at the Faculty Lounge
20. Finally understanding how to derive a particular equation for my class
21. Ranked Choice Voting passed in Maine; maybe South Dakota will be next!
22. Washington, DC passed a measure in favor of statehood, perhaps putting us on a path to a 51st state and having a new flag.
23. Of the 10 issues on my ballot, I agreed with the results on 7
24. The second session in Knowing Who You Are, a set of workshops on racial and ethnic identity and diversity on campus
25. Listening to a recording of some of our Symphonic Band rehearsal
26. Our band directors sloth-shaped tea steeper
27. Attending the blue star flag raising ceremony on campus
28. A new temperature logger for our radon monitor
29. Dinner and catching up with friends Patrick and Laura
30. Lunch at IHOP with our friend Matt
31. Watching Star Trek at our house with Matt
32. The final discussion in our series on grief
33. Potluck at The Well
34. Our friend noticed and retrieved a few items we had forgotten
35. Meeting our neighbor Becky
36. Sorting out plans for the final classes of the semester
37. Good sight reading exercise in band rehearsal
38. Leaning more about recent local Lakota history at the Lakota Cultural Form (Nov. 15)
39. Pizza at the forum
40. Placed order for the largest piece of equipment that will be in my lab.