Happy Holidays

Whatever and however you celebrate. For me it's about nothing more than being with friends and family and expressing love and gratitude through gatherings and gift-giving - an ancient and probably universal, instinctive impulse. At work the last day of school before break is little more than a party, and much as I sometimes complain about the inability to get anything substantive done, I should recognize it as an important social bonding ritual. My students crave this time with one another, but they also like to show their appreciation to teachers as well, and to spend a some time interacting with us as human beings rather than just taskmasters. It takes a really mean spirit to squash that energy going into that last week in the name of covering superficially another chapter in the already mindlessly broad biology curriculum. And my students are really wonderful human beings.

Back at home I enjoy the family get-togethers and of course the down-time that arrived not a moment too soon this year - a much needed break to decompress and to spend some time with the kids.

Not much time for shooting pictures this week. The above photo was taken a few weeks ago as part of my assignment to the photography club to take pictures with winter/holiday themes. It has a black border because it was prepared and uploaded for printing to go with our winter exhibit.