Samhain                                            Waning Thanksgiving Moon

Over this last week I learned that my Latin chapters now require more time than I have in one week, so I’m going to shift my tutoring sessions from once a week to every other week.  That way I’ll be able to finish my chapter and get some Ovid done, too.  It’s the journey, not a date, that matters to me.  I want to learn Latin well enough from Wheelock and Greg to continue on translating Ovid with monthly or even less frequent sessions, perhaps later this year.

Interrupted sleep patterns and the holiday did throw me off.  I’ve not been exercising, post-extraction rules said not to early and I extended it as my jaw has taken longer to heal than I imagined, but I’m going to start back this week. I miss it.  After the first of the year, I’ll move back into resistance work at least 3 times a week, plus balance training.  That will get me back to where I was before the growing season began last year.

Had a revelation.  Weight loss as a goal has always frustrated me.  By that I mean I’ve not lost any appreciable weight for any reasonable period of time.  It dawned on me this morning that I can control what goes in even if the results are mercurial.  So, I plan to eat less of everything except vegetables and fruit.  I’ll the weight fall where it will.  I know, this isn’t rocket science or anything other than a big duh, way to state the obvious, but I haven’t thought it in those terms for me.  Dad always said weight loss was easy.  Push ups.  Push ups away from the table.

Refreshing my knowledge of the Ming and Qing dynasties, especially jade and ceramics, for a corporate event tonight.  One thing I relearned concerned nephrite and jadite.  The Chinese value both equally and call them both jade.  Nephrite comes in darker colors and has a soapy or waxy finish when buffed.  Jadite comes in lighter colors and becomes shiny, brilliant when buffed.  Also buffed up my knowledge of the T’ang dynasty and especially ming ch’i, or spirit objects, objects placed in tombs.  I’ve never spent much time learning about our sarcophagus, it comes form the Northern Wei Dynasty and has a unique spot in Chinese art history.  Not much landscape painting has survived from this time period, so the engraved landscapes on the sides of the sarcophagus are a valuable art historical reflection of that era’s painting style.

Got a note from Margaret Levin, executive director of the Sierra Club.  It’s nice to be appreciated.