Spring and it's enchantment (or rain and cold)
Ah...this is one of those spring days, grey and cold and rainy, that lends itself to the opposite side of the spectrum from the hot, bursting with energy, sexually tense, exploratory, discovery based amazing days. This is a day to reflect, look inward, and review the year thus far. It is the point where at school the students either surprisingly pull it all together and we end with a happy note, or I can't wait to get rid of them as fast as possible. The pulling together has occurred in all classes but one. Not a bad track record. I'm now 27 (started this journal when I was...hmm.. 19, about to turn 20) I will be an uncle in November (my sister and bro-in-law announced at my birthday gathering last weekend) Marie and I have plans of our own for kids, I am a pension plan through work, an IRA account privately, and a private life insurance plan. I'm feeling OLD. Ha...or rather settled. And yet inevitably the mind wanders in spring to all the various ways of the past..how expectation has shifted, how anticipation has shifted through the years. I have been reading like a MoFo (a typical spring trait) and have many ideas for all aspects of life. I'm trying to keep green as much as possible, including using only canvas bags shopping, going to start working on composting, am looking into Marie and I joining a CSA (community supported agriculture) to have organic vegetables and sundry bounty throughout summer and fall etc. etc. I feel like I'm coming into my discovered self, rather than the discovering self, and it is both delightful, and a bit intimidating. Currently reading Anna Karenina and loving it, which is perfect. I received the book as a gift, I think after my Frosh year at UW-Madison, and have had to wait for just the right time...now is that time. I also had an delightfully random experience on Thursday. In the afternoon, I received a text message from a former student, who had had me as a teacher two different years, and was also in One-Act for two years. I have also respected her, and we had a fun sense of humor together (one of those students who does not fear being nerdy, intelligent, and fun). It was a totally safe working respect based teacher student relationship. Having been in various academic settings together, we had some inside jokes (as do I and other students, or sections of class). Any way, ours was related to the song involving "Blinded by the light" ..wrapped up like a deuce another runner int he night. So, anyway, I get this text message from her and all it says is "Blinded by the light" so I reply "wrapped up like a deuce". Her message was that this response made her day. She just needed to check in, or make sure to get the song stuck in someone's head, and she knew I'd appreciate it. It was a very nice gesture. I sent back "Mission Accomplished". I shared all this with Marie, and she thought it was grand. It was a nice gesture to know that as a teacher I can have a lasting impression, and one that makes individuals feel good, and connected. Almost as if, a teacher will always know a student. And it's true. I spend a lot more time with these students than parents do (most likely) and see so many things. I'm feeling more poetic again, and I am encouraged by how things that need to work out work out. For example, we were going to use our tax rebate stimulus thingy to cover all our expenses for our trip to New York (not originally how we were going to use the money, but it worked out that it was going to be extra). However, in the most recent big storm we had, I noticed a shingle from the back roof had blown off, and that granules of shingle material were all over the deck. I had always had my suspicions about the back roof, and new it was older. Lo and behold, take out the binoculars (our roof is a very slight degree slope) and went to the back yard...the roof looked like a moonscape. So, we're using the money to re-roof the back half. If all goes as planned, though, the new roof will have a lifespan expectancy of 40+ years. Yes, I feel old. So, that's life as it stands now.