Something Shiny!

Recently, a bear attacked a camp site in Yellowstone and killed a camper. While I don’t deny the horror of the situation, I doubt that the attack was premeditated. And yet, the language we use to talk about such events would suggest that we suspect otherwise. From NPR: “the bear entered several tents and attacked the campers for no reason readily apparent to humans.” Really, NPR? Really? Are we really suggesting that humans can deduce the motivations behind a wild animal attack? We haven’t figured out what keeps airplanes up! And here’s the thing that completely baffles me: they’re going to kill the bear. Just like they kill alligators who attack people, or sharks who attack people, or zoo animals that attack people. They’re going to kill the bear for acting as wild animals do. And again, I’m not trying to say that the attack wasn’t terrible. But the death penalty for wild animals? Really? And here’s the other thing that gets me: check out that headline! ‘Grizzly Bear Suspected in Fatal Yellowstone Attack Captured.’ Suspected! What if we don’t have the right one? Then we’ve got a killer grizzly on the loose and we’ve decreased the bear population! Is anyone with me on the sheer ludicrousness of this?

Last Friday, Zack and Nikki’s baby was born. Armed with a full shock of black hair, Max was finally ready to make his grand entrance. There’s a new baby in the family, and we can’t wait to meet him at Christmas. For my part, though, the celebration was tempered with sadness. In the same week that Max was born, a dear friend passed away. I worked with Marty in college, at K-State’s main library. In any given room, she was the first to laugh and the first to smile. She always wanted to help people. One finals week, I woke up and couldn’t open my eyes; they were swollen shut. I couldn’t imagine what had happened and I didn’t know what to do. So I called Marty. Now, in all honesty, she didn’t know what to do either! But she gave me all the suggestions she could and she was a tremendous comfort to this freaked out undergrad. So, as we welcome Max into the world, we say a fond farewell to Marty. She was a spectacular woman with a beautiful soul and a tremendous spirit. She will be sorely missed.

No, still no baby. But I had a meeting with my dissertation committee yesterday afternoon and, I don’t know, the title seemed to fit. (Not that it was bad, you understand– just something that had to be gotten through before my dissertation could be properly… birthed? This metaphor has taken a weird turn.) This was a meeting for which I was eminently prepared and, having turned in the draft near the beginning of June, one which was a long time coming. I won’t say that I was particularly nervous about it, just that I had some trepidation about one committee member in particular who can be a bit of a challenge. In the days leading up to it, I wondered in which hand I should hold the olive branch (and in which hand, the arrows). Ultimately, it went smoothly and it was quite productive. I’ve now got an inordinate number of helpful suggestions that I’ll sift through, using some and discarding others, to make the final product more… final product-y. In the meantime, we continue to await news on Nikki’s baby, who seems to have decided he needs to cook a bit longer before making his grand entrance. (This kid is clearly going to be a handful.)