Donna Shelton
@donnashelton.bsky.social
Emerita professor of Spanish, now adjunct, reader of history and sci-fi, climate change worrier, master gardener. Third Act Upstate New York. Born at 315 ppm. She/her.
The first year for blooms on the three lobelia cardinalis plants I put in last summer. The three new plants added this summer will bloom next year.
July 23, 2025 at 1:11 PM
The first year for blooms on the three lobelia cardinalis plants I put in last summer. The three new plants added this summer will bloom next year.
How's your spring break going, Donna?
Oh, about like the last two months, so far.
Oh, about like the last two months, so far.
March 7, 2025 at 4:29 PM
How's your spring break going, Donna?
Oh, about like the last two months, so far.
Oh, about like the last two months, so far.
Now for something positive.
Samantha Harvey's Orbital is a lovely little book that deserves all the praise it has received. I waited three months to get it from the library.
Samantha Harvey's Orbital is a lovely little book that deserves all the praise it has received. I waited three months to get it from the library.
February 28, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Now for something positive.
Samantha Harvey's Orbital is a lovely little book that deserves all the praise it has received. I waited three months to get it from the library.
Samantha Harvey's Orbital is a lovely little book that deserves all the praise it has received. I waited three months to get it from the library.
Gave up on Moby Dick after about 15 chapters or so. Maybe another time.
Now reading Rebecca Solnit's Wanderlust, which I like quite a bit, although it makes me sad because long walks may no longer be possible for me.
Now reading Rebecca Solnit's Wanderlust, which I like quite a bit, although it makes me sad because long walks may no longer be possible for me.
February 22, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Gave up on Moby Dick after about 15 chapters or so. Maybe another time.
Now reading Rebecca Solnit's Wanderlust, which I like quite a bit, although it makes me sad because long walks may no longer be possible for me.
Now reading Rebecca Solnit's Wanderlust, which I like quite a bit, although it makes me sad because long walks may no longer be possible for me.
Very much enjoying Christopher Brown's A Natural History of Empty Lots. I'm reminded of the places where we neighborhood kids played in grade school.
January 5, 2025 at 10:27 PM
Very much enjoying Christopher Brown's A Natural History of Empty Lots. I'm reminded of the places where we neighborhood kids played in grade school.
Our basset hounds desperate to find a place to poop in the snow. They have only the half-filled trails from last night's snowblowing, and they hate pooping in their own trails.
They managed.
They'll have new trails soon.
They managed.
They'll have new trails soon.
January 3, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Our basset hounds desperate to find a place to poop in the snow. They have only the half-filled trails from last night's snowblowing, and they hate pooping in their own trails.
They managed.
They'll have new trails soon.
They managed.
They'll have new trails soon.
We are going to learn to play this game, Return to Dark Tower, which my husband got through a kickstarter thing probably a year ago. We finally opened it. We'll see how this goes--I am not a gamer.
November 30, 2024 at 6:37 PM
We are going to learn to play this game, Return to Dark Tower, which my husband got through a kickstarter thing probably a year ago. We finally opened it. We'll see how this goes--I am not a gamer.
A white Thanksgiving here in central New York.
Looks like the calendulas have finally given up for the year.
Looks like the calendulas have finally given up for the year.
November 28, 2024 at 4:22 PM
A white Thanksgiving here in central New York.
Looks like the calendulas have finally given up for the year.
Looks like the calendulas have finally given up for the year.
Two new books from the local public library. The library is going to be my thing now.
Which one should I read first?
Which one should I read first?
November 14, 2024 at 8:36 PM
Two new books from the local public library. The library is going to be my thing now.
Which one should I read first?
Which one should I read first?
A project of mine is to reread books I loved long ago or classics I've never read. I remember reading East of Eden in HS, 50 years ago. I loved it. I'd always thought I read it for class, but now that I'm almost finished with it again, I can't believe that. It must have been from the HS library.
September 21, 2024 at 10:00 PM
A project of mine is to reread books I loved long ago or classics I've never read. I remember reading East of Eden in HS, 50 years ago. I loved it. I'd always thought I read it for class, but now that I'm almost finished with it again, I can't believe that. It must have been from the HS library.
Had an errand to run up north and west of us, so we stopped at Fish Creek to look around. Love the smell of dry, fallen leaves.
September 21, 2024 at 9:43 PM
Had an errand to run up north and west of us, so we stopped at Fish Creek to look around. Love the smell of dry, fallen leaves.
Volunteer asters are taking over one of my echinacea beds.This is their third year--every year there are more.
September 14, 2024 at 12:32 AM
Volunteer asters are taking over one of my echinacea beds.This is their third year--every year there are more.
Vanessa Angélica Villareal's Magical Realism: Essays on Music, Memory, Fantasy, and Borders is amazing. I had intended to read a chapter or two yesterday as a break from another book, but I'm not putting this down.
August 26, 2024 at 6:35 PM
Vanessa Angélica Villareal's Magical Realism: Essays on Music, Memory, Fantasy, and Borders is amazing. I had intended to read a chapter or two yesterday as a break from another book, but I'm not putting this down.
Reading Dan Egan's The Death and Life of the Great Lakes, and it is fascinating.
August 3, 2024 at 5:19 PM
Reading Dan Egan's The Death and Life of the Great Lakes, and it is fascinating.
Thanks for the link. This is amazing. I grew up in Overland Park.
June 29, 2024 at 1:48 PM
Thanks for the link. This is amazing. I grew up in Overland Park.
Three years ago I planted five blue flag iris rhizomes in the wet part of our backyard. They've begun to spread, and this year there are quite a few flowers.
May 27, 2024 at 6:32 PM
Three years ago I planted five blue flag iris rhizomes in the wet part of our backyard. They've begun to spread, and this year there are quite a few flowers.
I have about a week's break before I have to prep for the summer session, so I'm going to devote myself to this magnificent novel for the next several days: Nicolás Medina Mora's América del Norte.
May 8, 2024 at 3:48 PM
I have about a week's break before I have to prep for the summer session, so I'm going to devote myself to this magnificent novel for the next several days: Nicolás Medina Mora's América del Norte.
Bigoted, ignorant fools.
This is one of the reasons I'll keep teaching as long as I am physically able. I have to do something to combat this evil.
This is one of the reasons I'll keep teaching as long as I am physically able. I have to do something to combat this evil.
February 1, 2024 at 1:05 AM
Bigoted, ignorant fools.
This is one of the reasons I'll keep teaching as long as I am physically able. I have to do something to combat this evil.
This is one of the reasons I'll keep teaching as long as I am physically able. I have to do something to combat this evil.
Yes, I had them in my campus office before I retired. I need to find a place for them.
January 1, 2024 at 7:21 PM
Yes, I had them in my campus office before I retired. I need to find a place for them.
If you were visited by three ghosts on Christmas Eve, who would you want them to be?
December 26, 2023 at 3:12 AM
If you were visited by three ghosts on Christmas Eve, who would you want them to be?
A decent start to winter.
The dogs have their trail.
The dogs have their trail.
November 29, 2023 at 12:34 PM
A decent start to winter.
The dogs have their trail.
The dogs have their trail.
We're out experimenting with the lighting in the Halloween pirate graveyard.
October 30, 2023 at 10:42 PM
We're out experimenting with the lighting in the Halloween pirate graveyard.
Lovely colors out the kitchen window.
Bonus basset hound stalking a chipmunk.
Bonus basset hound stalking a chipmunk.
October 27, 2023 at 9:24 PM
Lovely colors out the kitchen window.
Bonus basset hound stalking a chipmunk.
Bonus basset hound stalking a chipmunk.
Cleaned up the last of the peppers and winter squash.Admired the native plants in the back garden as they prepare for winter.
October 14, 2023 at 2:35 PM
Cleaned up the last of the peppers and winter squash.Admired the native plants in the back garden as they prepare for winter.