Electrons on the loose

Hello everyone. You might (understandably) surmise that the break-in-postings is due to my general proclivity to very belated postings. However, this time it's actually due to the fact that our house was very nearly struck by lightning last Tuesday. Amidst the bright white and florid orange streaks and the enormous "boom" that scared Montana mightily, the lightning also took out our desktop computer, modem/internet connection, and television. Hello, State Farm Renters' Insurance. We're still sorting through the virtual carnage, but luckily no one was hurt and no data was lost. I'm now online a bit more frequently than before owing to our kind neighbors who are letting us be parasites on their wireless connection, but pictures likely won't be forthcoming until we get the computer situation sorted out.

In the meantime, Montana has gone to daycare at Bright Horizons and, on the whole, is doing very well. She does not love being dropped off, but as we tell her, we always come back; and she usually protests for about 2 minutes before becoming very interested in oversized legos, the grass outside, or her new BFF Liam. She adores her teacher, Jen. She also adores cottage cheese and yesterday ate some lasagna made by Alice, which she also loved.

As for her parents: Michael is teaching a course at Yale College this fall, entitled "Influential Women of Early Christianity." Very interesting and exciting syllabus with a small group of undergraduates (it's a seminar). Michael is also on the job market this year, with the aim of being hired to teach somewhere for academic year 2009-2010. There are a number of really fitting jobs that are conducting searches, so we are hopeful. We won't know more on that front until the winter: academic hires do not proceed at corporate paces!

I'm a Teaching Fellow for a course on Faith and Globalization, which has been the subject of much intellectual and organizational effort as well as much expectation, and it's an honor to be part of it. Pedagogically it's quite interesting: There are two mandatory sections prior to the two-hour seminar, so the bulk of the conceptual material is digested and critiqued prior to the formal class meeting time. I think this is a suggestive way of doing interdisciplinary work.

We hope you are all well as September draws us toward the change of seasons. August/September are much more a "new year" for the Peppards than is January. There is always much energy, delight, and anticipation that accompanies the return of students to a college campus, and it is lovely to be caught up in that annual cycle of return. We love what we do!