Time for my semi-annual update here, it seems.

Yesterday, there was a party for my for boss, Karen Hartgen, in Albany. She retired from running the business she started 37 years ago. Through a combination of things, I found out on Friday, but went anyway. Nothing like 7 hours of driving for a 3 hour event. But without Karen giving me a job and letting me open an office in Ithaca, I would not be in the house I have or probably even have the job I love teaching at Ithaca College. I got the job because I was in the right place at the right time, and the right place was Ithaca. Laurie and I would have stayed in East Greenbush and gone on with life there. Working for Karen also made me a better archaeologist and got me experience working on a remarkable set of sites. The people I worked with and met because I worked for Karen are some of the best folks around, so for many reasons I am where I am today because Karen offered me a job.

Otherwise, life is doing well. Classes are going well, with some great students this semester. We had a good season of gardening, and have a cupboard filled with tomatoes, applesauce and a few other goodies to last at least into part of the winter. We've even planted some things for the spring, specifically winter wheat and garlic. The wheat may have been planted a little later than ideal, but at least it went in.