For most people a new beginning and the opportunity for change is heralded by New Year’s Day. For me the feeling of renewal has always come with the first day of school. It is a time when everyone brandishes a clean slate and once again there is the potential to erase mistakes and to improve. Everyone shows up on day one with hopefulness, a bag full of fresh supplies, and usually a new pair of shoes. Even the teachers boast new haircuts and not a single staple is hanging from their carefully prepared classrooms. It’s truly a day of optimism when even a meltdown on Wall Street lacks the power to kill the joy.
Of course the sense of renewal and excitement is sometimes tempered very quickly. It’s easy to determine just how dedicated to learning the students will be within a very few minutes. A group that sits quietly and attentively on the first meeting has the potential to be molded and motivated. One that demonstrates its propensity for mischief from the start is more likely to require a firmer hand as the days and weeks go by. The class lists change as quickly as the weather and all of those efforts to personalize seating charts go up in flames. There never seem to be enough textbooks for each of the students no matter how well the needed numbers were considered. An experienced teacher knows how to punt because it is a rare first encounter with the students when all goes as planned. There will always be slackers who return without completed summer assignments and those who insist on challenging authority from the get go. Still the skilled teacher knows that it will be the most fun bringing around the most difficult characters. Continue reading “The First Days”
It’s another stormy morning and as the rain comes down I find myself feeling pensive. It’s been a quiet week after my vacation. I came home tired from the long drive and never really got back into the routine of things because I was almost immediately scheduled to visit my oral surgeon to have my implant set in place. I spent time catching up on some phone calls that I had been unable to make in the mountains. One of them was to my cousin who had suddenly and tragically lost her nephew in an accident. Her beloved Chris and his wife had gone on their dream trip to the Florida Keys. One moment they were joyfully riding on a rented scooter and the next they were hit head on by the driver of a Ford Explorer. The young man died instantly. His wife was sent to the hospital in critical condition. When the calls came to the family back here in Houston there was a sense of disbelief, as though it was all somehow a terrible mistake. 
One of the best aspects of retirement is that I am able to have lazy mornings without guilt. I appreciate the fact that I don’t have to rush around and tackle traffic on rainy mornings like this one. I stay inside sipping on my tea and viewing Mother Nature’s storms from my windows. Since it is unlikely that anyone will unexpectedly come to my door on a day like today I am able to linger in my pajamas a bit longer than I would if I had places to go and things to accomplish. It’s nice to be able to peruse the online news sources and to get up to date information on the weather. Since I had oral surgery just yesterday I am supposed to take it a bit easy for another twenty four hours or so. Luckily I don’t have to feel compelled to rush off to a job with my pain medication tucked into my purse. I am able to nurse myself in ways that I never did when I was still working. It’s a very nice situation indeed!
When I was a child I loved coloring books, and of course I always stayed inside the lines. It was a source of great pride to my mother when our next door neighbor who was an artist commented that I had exceptional technique and control when I was only about three. Mama would repeat that compliment over and over again as evidence that I was somehow destined for greatness. Eventually society changed its mind about the art of coloring and pronounced that the ability to fill in the blank spaces of a drawing was little more creative than painting a wall. Furthermore the concept of staying within the lines was viewed as a sign of someone without any particular thinking skills. Still my mama insisted that my outstanding coloring at such a young age was indeed significant.
Returning home from vacation is always bittersweet, more so when the trip was magical. They say that there is no place like home and to a certain extent that is true. I always sleep best in my own bed and I enjoy resuming my familiar routine and yet ending a vacation is akin to the day after Christmas. All of the joy and anticipation related to the journey dissolves into piles of dirty laundry to be cleaned and chores to be done. Somehow those first few days after a glorious sojourn are so disappointing, especially for those unfortunate souls who must return to work. 
All It Takes Is A Little Love 