Eighty Days

I decided to sign on for another year of teaching. I had applied for a different job but didn't get it so this seems like my best option, all things considered. One of the things that I like about teaching is the summer. Before you start thinking how lucky teachers are to have summers off, think again. While I do have some meetings and about 10 hours of work to do for summer school, I do have most of the summer free. This is necessary time for me to recharge and gear up for another year. I prefer to look at my time off in the summer as comp time. During the school year, I work 50+ hours per week. I haven't logged my hours recently, but the last time I did, I worked over 2000 hours in the 36 weeks of the school year. Of course, I am counting time spent grading papers and planning at home. I also counted time that I volunteer to record all of the band concerts, chaperone dances, etc. Yes, I am defensive about this. All professions have their own brand of stress and perks. Summer is one of those perks for me. My perk is 80 days. From the first day of summer to the first day of inservice, I have 80 days. I am not

normally a day counter but this helps me to put things in perspective. According to Jules Verne, a person can go around the world in 80 days. Actually, far less than that in this day and age. I vow to make the most of my time this summer. Really. I haven't made my summer bucket list yet but this year I vow to be more reasonable than I have in the past. None of the I'm-gonna-learn to-juggle-five-objects or I'll-learn-to-speak-Chinese plans for me. I simply want to clean, declutter, garden, eat better and exercise. I think I can manage that.

Today I started off well. I walked for two miles along the lake before dawn. I truly enjoyed seeing some of the flowerbeds along the lakeshore. One of my favorites is the garden of Dave Bourgeois. He has some intriguing miniature garden art and a large bicycle throughout his space. I even noticed a couple tiny musical instruments! For those of you who don't have the pleasure of knowing David, he is a local music teacher, performer and thespian. I enjoyed just taking the time to slowly drink in this space before continuing my walk.

I then came home and spent 4+ hours in my garden. I cultivated, weeded, mulched and watered; I added a higher row on the pea trellis and repaired a little of the fence. I also spent some time in the yard and garage. I could have gone to the local Farmers' Market or to the annual Garden Fair downtown but in line with my post from last time, I don't need to go elsewhere, I have my own garden and produce to enjoy.

The afternoon was spent cleaning in the house. Of course, a summer Saturday wouldn't be complete without a nap! Tomorrow I am volunteering for the local marathon. I need to rest up, you know! I suppose I should have a carb meal tonight!