This gate/arbor and fence for my wife's garden was the big house project this summer. The fence boards, gates, and roof of the arbor are recycled cedar siding that I had stored in the barn for 18 (!) years. I knew I would use it someday! It is a little hard to see the old-fashioned wire fence between the boards, but that fencing used to run down the east edge of the garden all the way to the barn, and Dona and I pulled it up and reused it here. Like all recycling projects, ignorance is your friend. If we had known what a pain it was to unbend all the nasty kinks in that fencing we probably wouldn't have done it, but it sure is nice now that it's done. Dona made the gravel paths and did all the brickwork. And is planting a thousand plants and flowers inside.

I almost titled this post, "What I Did with my Summer Vacation." School just started this week at WSU, and it is a little weird not to be going through the stress of getting the semester going. Not so weird that I miss it, however. While teaching world history (which was my odd WSU gig of the last 15 years besides teaching music--odd because my training is in music, of course) was a great education, I have neglected a lot of important music work over the last two decades because I had this great day job. That WSU ended the World Civilizations program because of a stupid turf battle (having nothing to do with budget cuts, in spite of what they say publicly) is tragic for the quality of undergraduate education, but they don't really care, and ultimately it was a good thing for me. I may go back to teach a course in world music for the Honors College at WSU, but that is on the back burner. Still, today is a day I would be running around on campus, teaching my two sections, and with my son in his first week of second grade, he isn't around either...it is a little unsettling. I feel like I'm playing hooky to work in the studio today, but really it is that I've called in "well" for the rest of my life.