school days...

Excuse the sentimental lament. But I'm a teacher and I not only relish summer's arrival, I also feel the gentle tug at my heartstrings when I know a child or 16 is about to leave my room and head off into sunburns, mosquito bites and kool-aid moustaches. The end of the year is usually so tumultuous that by day's end on that final day of schoool I am so completely exausted that the reality that these kid's don't "belong" to me anymore has not fully smacked me in the face. My tears are brief--if at all. And only on that long ride home can I fully reflect that I have spent and entire school year getting to know these little humans. From the first two weeks of school, when I question my career choice, to fall's arrival when I am feeling so completely in love with the outside world that it can't help but spill over into the classroom, I have to reflect and feel the utter amazement that I was allowed that much time with such an amazing a group of little personalities. It's April now. Teacher's like to joke and count down the days until summer. I'm not going to tell you that inside it's a different story--inside we're "torn apart." We're not. We love the little guys and we'll miss them. But like the passing of a torch, we know that we're getting a fresh batch in the fall. We'll have few tow-heads, maybe a red-head here or there, and even a future astro-physicist. I will have a few thousand colds, a few parents that need more than their share of reassuring pats on the back, and a couple of hundred cookie cakes.

It's been a while. Those infamous words have been quoted by bloggers far better than myself. I feel completely clogged, stifled. I'm dreaming in sesame street stereo. There are cheese puffs on the hearth, duct tape on the couch, and the sky is gray and threatening the un-mowed lawn with another rainy assault. Friday night. Go and grab a drink because the air is thick with possibilities.