It's a 14-Year Tradition in New Haven, But Mother Nature (Maude) Has Frozen Participation This Super Bowl Sunday

One of my favorite events every years is the IRIS 5K Run for Refugees. I've been fielding teams for about as long as I've lived in Kentucky, as their mission aligns with my understanding of humanitarianism and all the work I do with K-12 teachers and students. Given the cruelty of late, too, it seems this race is more important than ever before. 

Sadly, the winds and temperatures have made it dangerous for the event and I'm needing to be logical and forward-thinking with participating in the actual race. There was a virtual option, which I am opting for when the temperatures are healthier for the cause. I've made my yearly contribution and I will advocate in all things good 364 days of the year as I always do. Yes, the guilt is kicking in, especially in recognition that I have a choice, whereas so many don't have one in the world circumstances they are born into. 

My life has benefitted, been made richer, and offered numerous rewards since working with immigrant and refugee populations throughout my career. I will continue this trajectory as long as I have life on the planet, but I'm needing to be smart with my decision, especially since a brief walk around the block with Karal yesterday showed me how brutal these temperatures really are. The poor dog was walking with alternating legs as the pavement was horrific on her paws. I just needed her to pee, even if she was choosing to hibernate under blankets all day. 

The animals know. Bless any and all who aren't lucky enough to be brought indoors by the cruelty of human kinds. I hope the nature of such animals finds them in ecological safe spaces innate to their species. 

For all braving the severity of today's 5K, I pray for God's outreach and love so they remain safe. It is all a reminder of the elements that really have control upon our lives and, as a supposed logical creature, I need to be smarter than I usually tend to be. For today, and it's a difficult decision, I need to think about my feet, skin, bones, muscles, and heart. 

We should think about such things with all of humanity each and every day.

When a Student Sends a Photo of Feedback Given on Her First-Ever Poetry Collection 25 Years Later, You Get Some Sort of Feeling Inside

I was not expecting in. It was a random email where a student of yesteryear reported her mother was cleaning out her home and found a poetry anthology written by her daughter, an 8th grade student, that neither of them could quite throw away. 

I remember the student, the year, and mostly all the adult life she's experienced...kids, divorce, remarrying, building a career, a Louisville life, and 25 years later an email to say, "Thank You." She actually wrote to say, "You've always been a great human in the lives of so many of us." 

Phew. 

And I read what I wrote, recognize the handwriting, appreciate the time I took to give such feedback, and remain in complete curiosity what the poems look like today. I'd love to read them, as I cherished the times I had in Kentucky teaching writing in the age of portfolio-assessment. Kentucky kids were taught to be writers at all grade levels and in all classes. It was a remarkable time to work with high school kids, especially as they set out to define who they want/wanted to be. 

25 years later...that's what I'm trying to get my head around....being a ghost in the life of a yesteryear student, but seeing I've maintained my zest for what it possible with student writers. And yes, what is possible with developed, heart-felt feedback. 

It made my week and will be full for some time. This aging thing is something. 

A Great Evening Working with the Center for Coastal, Climate, & Marine Studies Advisory Board with a Woman's Basketball Game

Another highlight of Thursday, however, was seeing the 2025 MAAC Volleyball Championship Team being recognized by the big screen at half-time of the Women's basketball team blowout over Marist. The Advisory Board was treated to a dinner in the Diffley Room before hand and I also ran into Donna Delbasso, Hill Central/Kwame Alexander collaborations, whose daughter, Casey, is the Stags ESPN announcer (she also works for Good Morning America and got married two weeks ago).

I am face-to-face with another day of no scheduled meetings, so I am going at the freedom to get actual work done. The registrations for summer programs are rolling in and I need to catch up with those, as well as editing a few writing projects. 

I am thinking ahead to Sunday's Run for Refugees 5K and the below zero windchill they're predicting. That will be Super Bowl Sunday for me. A cold one.

I'm also laughing at a dream I had. In my dream, Lori Loughlin, from Full House, heard my littler sister was eating with friends at the Clam Bar. The actress was working with a family in Poughkeepsie…a non - profit, and they needed someone who knew sign language to support their work. She drove all the way to Syracuse because she heard Casey was at the Clam Bar.

It was very random. I never even watched Full House and had to look up the actress the next morning. There were also Labrador retrievers laying everywhere and when the performer got to the Clam Bar Casey was smoking a cigarette out the window with Bonnie Stolz (trying not to get caught). My mom was sitting backwards in a booth with her legs criss-crossed working on her iPad. It was very detailed and usually I have meanings I can make from such dream…but this one threw me upside down. 

I sort of hope I can have more information in a follow-up dream, because it was detailed and I want to know what my subconscious is telling me. 

Ah, but it's Friday. Carry on. It's all good. 

After Biffing a Doctor's Appointment and Working On CWP-Fairfield Spring/Summer Programs, I Decided to Call an Early Last Night (Just to Read)

An evening of Crandall's choice...no grading, no planning, no responding, no writing...just some kielbasa, a walked dog, and feet on the couch with a pile of books. Yesterday, I launched Young Adult Literacy Labs for the summer and I also debuted the special project with the Center for Climate, Coastal, and Marine Studies where Dr. Karen Karbiener will come to campus in celebration of Walt Whitman. All the projects took months of planning and formation so that the launch (including online registrations) were ready in time. All of this is to say that by 6 p.m. last night I was done with my laptop. I grew tired of the mental labor and wanted to lose myself in a story or two...so I did.

I have a larger pile of YA novels sent to me by publishers and friends and there are few I've wanted to prioritize. I know today I have meetings, interviews, and evening board-member work, so I opted to have a little Bry-time last night under a blanket. I have to get it where I can, and I think my body is internally feeling the temperature plummet coming our way again this weekend. Ugh.

I created a Padlet to invite teachers to the Walt Whitman project and differentiated invitations for all grade levels (as I know how tricky audiences are...especially young ones. We have a couple of months to get the work done, so the net was cast and we'll see what we'll lure in. But now, I need to head to campus for another of those long-$@# days.

Made with

Last Minute Post: It Comes Down to the Turkey Sandwich at 9 p.m. and I Lose. I Knew I'd Lose, and I'm Okay with That. Karal for the Win.

I didn't get home until 9 p.m.. I went to the mailbox, got my mail, unpacked by book bag and thought, it's after 9 p.m.. I need to eat. I made a turkey sandwich -- not exquisite -- and ran upstairs to put on sweats. I was stuffed in a dress shirt, tie, and coat, and didn't want to eat feeling like a stuffed sausage. 

Something said to me, "Oh, shit. The sandwich. I left it on the counter while I ran upstairs. I bet the dog got it." 

I then changed my clothes and thought, "Surely, she wouldn't eat a turkey sandwich." I was hungry.

She ate the sandwich. I came downstairs and the dog was in her usual, "Give me a biscuit mode. I'm a good girl." No, she wasn't a good girl. She ate my dinner at 9 p.m.  when I came home exhausted. 

I had to laugh, though, because I did a grocery run yesterday and was stocked. I quickly made another turkey sandwich. I had the goods, and it wasn't like I was doing fine-dining. She still begged for biscuits oblivious that she shouldn't have been counter surfing. To her, I made a turkey club sandwich...now what.

There are some moments in time, situations, moments, that are just perfect for the occasion - there are no words. After a long day, the need to eat, and total exhaustion, of course the dog...who doesn't pay taxes, doesn't make beds, never cleans...is feed on the regular...has toys in every room...and has full reign of several rooms and is regularly walked for miles at a time....

...at my sandwich. This, to me, is life. And I'm here for it. 

New Specs. I Guess I'm Used to the Progressive Lens at This Point, but I Definitely Want to See Days with Fewer Obligations. What a Monday.

Okay, Tuesday. Amazing how one day can be meetings from 7:30 a.m. until teaching a grad course at night, only to get home at 9:15 p.m., but then have no meetings the following day. Lord knows I need to plan, get on top of the universe, and recover from whatever yesterday was. I told myself, "Talk little, Crandall. You are on edge because of the ridiculousness of the day and if you speak, you'll likely be miserable in what you say."

Of course, I spoke. I like to think I was level-headed, patient, and kind with my words. I'm channeling a wise man who once said, "The only thing the disempowered people can do is to choose their words wisely, and perhaps, those with the power, will feel guilty by their decisions and eventually come to realize the mistakes they've made." 

Shame is all we can leave upon them. There is so much we should be using to shame so many right now. Yet, that won't get the work done. And Karal is shaming me for leaving her all alone for so long.

I picked up my new glasses and, really, can't believe I'm back to a spectacled world. I thought laser surgery was a solution (and I can still smell the burning of my cornea from that procedure (and how hour laters, I thought they blinded me). I passed out after the nap to not be able to see. When I woke up an hour later, I was good to go. Growing pains.

I'm not back to my checking for keys, phone, wallet, and glasses...a ritual of middle-aged forgetfulness.

I should say, too, my students last night must have thought I was extra wonky because all my materials were left on the 1st floor, because the elevator wasn't working and the woman who said she'd bring it to my classroom simply left all the materials on the elevator when she got on and left them there).. Can't make it up. 

In the end, I survived. Wounded a bit. Exhausted. But thankful to have space today to heal some. Carry on.

Because It's a Soup-er Ridiculous Week, I Soup-ed Up Mt. Pleasant with Easy-to-Grab Containers of Beef Pho with Vegetables

The trouble with being back-to-back from 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. tonight, is that I needed to spend most of Sunday preparing for being back-to-back from 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. tonight. I'm thankful, though, that I took a mental break mid-day and starting steaming beef broth with anise, cinnamon, ginger, garlic, and several other spices I thought might work. I needed a stock to make Pho, didn't have the right noodles, but did though out beef meant for Philly sandwiches (what Pho-lly).

I got the flavor down, but didn't realize how much beef stock I would need (definitely making a mental note of that in the future (good thing I had BJs-binded excess). It worked. I want more carrots and I also think green beans and a little lime would make it even tastier. Don't get me wrong...it's quite good.

I've stocked my fridge with easy to grab containers because I'll be on the go-go-go this week and anything to make life easier is a good thing. I knew (and know) February is bear.

I also learned five poems I wrote were selected to be set to music as part of the University's MLK celebrations, so I need to rehearse those (what a surprise). Wonderful to work with the Quick Center Artist in Residence, Daniel Roumain, a Haitian violinist and composer. 

The only problem with my pho, though, is I don't have shrimp spring rolls, which I liked to dip in peanut sauce to accompany the soup. Oh, well...I'll leave such luxury to Sue McV, as I can't even imagine finding time to craft such edible art.

Off to interviews, meetings, campus government, majors updates, and then of course my evening course. I'm fortunate that there's a small space to get to campus between a.m. ZOOM calls and all the responsibilities on campus, so I won't feel super guilty leaving Karal at home for so long.

The heatwave of 32 degrees coming our way also has me hopeful and a little more cheerful. It's been totally brutal this past week. 

Saturday Night Game Night of Rumikub with Thai Food...Not a Bad Way to Spend a Frigid Last Night in January 2026

I think I'm about ready to spread the work of several Spring '26 CWP initiatives and the online registrations are good to go for summer, although the receipts are going to someone on campus and that needs to be fixed. Karal and I also did a walk, but it hurts so we couldn't go too long. 

Pam found a restaurant called Mai Thai, and wanted to teach us to play Rumikub, although she needed me to stop and get both. Leo, Bev, and Leo joined and it made for a solid Saturday evening (numb fingers and all). Today, I need to get on top of Monday and Tuesday, as the meetings begin early, run back to back, and there's no breaks between. I need to be on top of the work before the work actually arrives. February begins today and it is brutal. 

I did my family check-ins, heard from Chitunga whose car battery went in the Des Moines cold, and picked up my new prescription at Hawley Lane Optical. It is amazing how little I can see up close any more, so the blended lens for distance and close up are really miraculous. I need them. So much for laser surgery in my 20s. 

I'm also EXTREMELY thankful there will be no storm today...just more cold and winds. I couldn't hand another snow event, especially given the long hauls of Monday and Tuesday. We just need to make it through the obligations. 

First, today, is a day of putting the pieces in place for a smoother week. 

And I'm ready for a warm-up. Any time. Any day. This cold needs to head back to Canada.