As you know, I was a dedicated forager and scavenger long before those avocations were hip. I have filled blog posts with lists of things I have found on the street, and I am proud to say that I can now add: "new chair for my study" to those achievements. T and I were walking home from buying beer last night, and there, sitting on the curb of our very own street, was this nice blue chair: not ripped up by cats or covered in stains, not smelling of mildew or terrible fluids, all of the legs securely fastened, comfortable yet small enough to move around the room for Zoom purposes. So we lugged it home and up the stairs, and there it sits, waiting to make its conference debut tomorrow.

The first thing I did was send a photo of it to my older son, because J is the king of scavenging. We brought him up well, apparently, as he has managed to furnish a large portion of his apartment with things he's found in alleys. He also scavenged this pink-nosed kitten in a subway stop . . . or rather, he was accosted by a man with a bag of kittens and ended up with an unweaned little screecher who, as you can see, is now feeling quite at home with his less than thrilled new big sister.

Yesterday's faculty meeting went well, our attendance list is growing, I'll be busy today with bits and pieces of conference prep, and I'll try to get some household stuff out of the way as well. This is the hard thing about running a Zoom conference: I have all of the home pressures and all of the work pressures at the same time. But now the fridge is full of quickish dinner options that T and I can pull together as needed, and if I can get the grass mowed and some mild housework done, then I'll feel a bit better about shutting my door for five days.