It's been a rough couple of days in NC and the Southeast. Sometimes, when you teach, the concepts seem so far away; other times, it echoes the current moment. This week, we spent classes examining the ideas of collapse, cycles, and restructuring. It felt far away but still relevant on Tuesday and Wednesday. Then they canceled school on Friday, and now it's Sunday, and our Mountains up the road are in a heartbreaking disaster. Around NC, one of the best teaching colleges in Appalachian State (where I went to school) and the town of Boone is a small college town that so many have connections to in our community. Asheville, the Metropolitan center of Western NC, has no water, cellphones, and only one road out or in. It's heartbreaking for the state and community, and the images that come out leave me speechless. I will start Monday with it, with the hope for empathy and compassion from the students and how all the civilizations that came and went may have had a heartbreaking moment, just like what is happening to our neighbors.