New

It's the eve before a new semester and the kitchen in the House of Whelmed smells like brownies. I have this thought that a ten-page syllabus is somehow more manageable when introduced in conjunction with sweets. Brownies are my spring semester treat, chocolate chip cookies in the fall. I love the possibility of the night before the new semester: the weight of assignments and meetings hasn't yet found my shoulders and I'm preoccupied with all the goodness this semester will be. I forget that goodness comes from all that behind-the-scenes work, the grading of papers late on Friday nights, the chains of emails from undergrads who are simply trying to find their way in a classroom. This is good but arduous work. It will be a good semester.

Prior to throwing together my brownie batter, I visited a friend's new baby. He's a darling little boy with intense brown eyes and the ability to stretch his body like a rubber band. I knit him a Baby Sophisticate, which has indeed turned into my go-to baby sweater pattern. It makes me happy to think it will keep that new little life warm during these cold winter months.