Happy Pfister Sunday!

As students have come to appreciate, Dean Donald H. Pfister is a unique man with his own way of doing things. In his honor, Flyby proudly presents the schedule for the first ever Pfister Sunday:

5:55 a.m.

The good dean wakes up just in time to catch the sunrise over The Charles River, followed by a lovely early morning stroll along along the blossoming river banks.

6:30 a.m.

Dean Pfister sits down at his desk to prepare for the most important task of his day—sending an email. After long and thoughtful reflection, he decides a subject line of “Thinking about writing a mystery novel that takes place in the Harvard Herbaria…..” will suffice.

8 a.m.

Now that the email is finally complete and ready to be sent to eagerly awaiting students, Pfister prepares a delicious Easter breakfast. After cooking an omelette with delicious sun-dried tomatoes, fresh arugula, and some special (wink wink) mushrooms, he decides that it is so tasty he will include the recipe in his next email.

9 a.m.

Even though it is a holiday, our dean still has work to get done. Pfister decides to stroll through the Harvard Herbaria, today lingering over the paleobotanical, pollen, and spore collections. After a good long look, the Asa Gray Professor of Systematic Botany sits down at his desk, loving stares at his pet cactus and then begins to work. Today’s project: the medicinal value of baking herbs into cupcakes.

12 p.m.

After putting in some serious work, Pfister is finally ready to celebrate a festive meal with the family. A delicious and all-natural vegetarian meal, napkins made out of leaves of the Ulmus Americana (the Mass. state tree), and a Pfister egg hunt which perfectly follows the plot of “The Signature of All Things,” a classic mystery that Pfister has recommended in multiple emails (and is seriously on my reading list), all round out the celebration.

4 p.m.

Once the crumbs of the delectable cupcake dessert have been cleared, the dean and his family are finally able to relax, hang out, and have some casual conversation. It quickly turns into an earnest discussion of the symbolism in Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit series.

6 p.m.

Dean Pfister and his family share a quiet outdoor dinner. After some delicious zucchini bread and kale juice, the family breaks out the vintage vinyl record collections. Tonight’s selection—The Beach Boys

7:30 p.m.

Pfister decides to plug away a bit on his pet book project before heading to bed. Although the novel is as of yet untitled, he knows it will be a mystery about a heroic botanist named Ronald Heaster.

8 p.m.

After an exciting day, it is long past bed time for Dean Pfister. He settles in to bed, reflecting on how lovely his day and life are, before descending into a deep and peaceful sleep.