Monday, April 06, 2009

Hitting the ground running..

I hit the ground running upon arriving in Kansas. I no more arrived and showered before I headed out to a philosophy seminar I'd been invited to attend. Wonderful to once again feel as though I might well be the least knowledgeable person in the room. (I later discovered others in the room enjoyed the same feeling.. ) Still the subject, rationality in explanations, touched upon some work I am doing on the subject of rationality, so an afternoon well spent!

From there I rushed over to see a dear friend and his family for dinner and talked into the wee hours of the night. The next day I returned to help prepare his house for the new owners, as there is an impending move come this weekend.. All day spent doing this, until the evening which was taken up by a reception for the speaker of the seminar, which included many of the folks from my days in the philosophy department here. Wonderful gathering between catching up with old friends, discussing interesting topics, meeting new friends, and simply enjoying the welcoming atmosphere in which ideas are respected, enjoyed, and encouraged. Truly a great group of people. This too lasted well into the night..

The next day, yesterday, was once again a day of prep work. Late afternoon I begged off, having completed what we needed to complete, so that I could meet another obligation also involving prep work. I had to begin the process of planning the remodeling and landscaping at my mother's house. With a tentative plan in place, today I can begin determining what supplies are necessary, and begin work on some inside projects as the weather is not conducive to my being outside yet. From the snow yesterday, and cold today we will move to the mid 70's later in the week. Much better time then to be outside.

Basically this has been a wonderful welcome back to a place I once called home. Not the house I am staying in, but the area in general and the people more specifically. It has been far too long away from many of these folks.

Thursday, April 02, 2009

Rain and traveling

Well another day of rain..

Still this has not really delayed the efforts to get packed and prepped for leaving for Kansas tomorrow. I have some renovations, remodeling, landscaping, and design to take care of there for the next month.