Monday, September 6, 2010

Turn, turn

Tomorrow is the first day of school; the first day for us teachers, anyway, and that means today is the end – the last official day of summer. I know I have no right to complain, since I’m coming off more than eight weeks of vacation, but I'm lucky because my wife is very forgiving about listening to me moan – a little – about summer’s demise. I normally greet the new school year with a mixture of excitement and sadness; I’m excited to meet the new class, to be teaching, to be back into the beautifully exhausting give-and-take of trying to teach a score of second graders what I know they need to know; and I’m sad about leaving behind the freedom, the relaxation, and the ease of summer. This year, the arrival of school is especially bittersweet. It’s selfish to say, but I regret that this is the last summer of Linda and me - the last summer that’s just ours. We sat on the deck today, watching the hummingbirds come and go from the feeder, hummingbirds that will soon be gone, and I knew that our summers will be different from here on out. That’s the bitter part, but the sweet part is what they’ll become. As a teacher, I get to spend summer days with my child, and I plan on making sure those days are packed with adventures big and small.


I took one, final summer hike with a friend today. The goldenrods and asters were in bloom, chickadees were flocking up, wild black cherries littered the trail at our feet – even though the temperature said summer, all the signs of the change in season were scattered about the fields and the woods.

74 days until baby.

Please comment and follow.

2 comments:

  1. Bill, I love reading your words! You make me smile and laugh and sigh at every turn. Our porch is dripping with concord grapes, and so our family knows it's fall too. And with it now comes back-to-school for our children. As a parent, you will never see your students the same way again either - a double gift. Best to you as the year begins!
    A.

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  2. Before you know it, you and your child can mark (celebrate or bemoan) the end of summer and the beginning of fall and the start of a new school year together.
    As my youngest son and I returned to school, he eagerly looked forward to HS and college soccer seasons. Personally, I don't want summer to ever end!

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