Those of us occupying the Stanford universe find ourselves at that delicate moment halfway through winter quarter. This is the time when everyone needs to dig deep. Students are battling through their midterms, coping with the accumulation of 5 weeks of course material. Faculty, meanwhile, are willing themselves to keep going for another 5 weeks of teaching, wondering exactly where the requisite energy will come from.
To that end, here is a raindrops-on-roses blog post in three very brief acts, aimed at brightening your day while not taking too much of your time.
Act 1
The place that raises my spirits – without fail – is the Stanford Red Barn. Here it is, on a glorious morning recently. The statue at the front is of Electioneer, who was purchased by Leland Stanford in 1877 and was the star horse of the Palo Alto Farm (which later became Stanford!), siring more record-breaking horses than any other of his time.
And here is Hank: a slightly humbler but super cute new addition to the Barn. Gotta love a palomino. Now who else thinks that we should have some kind of HumBio outing to the Stanford barn when we are all together again at Stanford? I’ll see if I can figure something out when the world has opened back up.
Act 2
Let them eat cake! Decades ago, our good friend Matt Stephens made a delicious chocolate cake (a Sachertorte) for Jonathan that has been, from that day, the cake we roll out for everyone’s birthday. It is delicious beyond delicious. I’ll take this opportunity to give a shout out here to Matt who, in addition to being a terrific baker, was also just named the Ralph W. Gerard Professor at the University of Chicago. Now I don’t want to sidetrack the students from their midterms, but if you happen to be looking for a delicious distraction, this could be a great way to go.
Act 3
And to finish strong, a brief visit to the ocean :). On a recent visit to Mendocino, I took the following 20-second video. Watching the waves always works as a reset for me. Take care all!
Up in the air 