At the first faculty meeting of the academic year I saw many colleagues I haven't seen (or thought of) since last year. Returning the favor, the accepted a monosyllabic answer to the question how my year away was, then asked darkly if I was glad to be back, dubious at my response that yes, it was good to be part of something again.That said, the faculty meeting wiped me out. Despite the wit of our new Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs ("if you are planning to have an affair with another faculty member, please submit the forms to me in triplicate") and what seems to have been a breakthrough in a festering governance problem (our long defunct governance document set a quorum we could never meet to approve a new one; today we simply set a new, lower quorum by acclamation), it was discouraging to learn how seriously our college advising system has been undermined by university centralization moves, one of a number of problems on which there's been no movement during the time I'm away. Still, it's home.
No, no connection with the brussels sprouts I roasted for dinner, except that that, too - oven roasting! - is something I'm happy to be back for.
