Nearly December

I always find the end of the Fall to be a bittersweet time. The leaves are gone and the midwestern winter weather sets in early, and yet there are new things to look forward to. It will soon be the end of the fall semester and my students and colleagues will all receive much earned breaks. Then comes the holiday season--which two days after Thanksgiving it has already taken hold. It is oddly a time of ends and beginnings. My eldest niece was married this week: the end of single life and the beginning of married life. My second eldest niece passed her GED exam with flying colors: the end to childhood and the beginning of an adult academic life. etc...
As this year winds down I feel appreciative of all that I have learned, and yet I look forward to upcoming and new projects. Today I spoke with Christina Gregor, friend and colleague, and we are planning what is the beginning of an interesting collaboraration. I have found collaborations fruitful, and I think this one will be as well. If there is anything that I have learned during and since graduate school, it is that as artists we must be supporters and encouragers of each other--"A rising tide lifts all boats."