Tomorrow I go back to school and I do not feel the sort of excitement that comes when a baby is about to be born or even when a longed for book is coming in the mail. I do look forward to seeing my classroom again. I like it because it is my little haven at school and the students always seem to appreciate the Pom Pom environment. However, when I look at my class lists online, I get happier. I'll write their names in a notebook many times over the next few weeks. I'll pray for them, mentioning their names to the Creator in the morning and when the day is done. The reason I'm not eager to get back on the job is because I love to stay home. I do. I'm not really a worker bee. I'm not sure what kind of bee I am, but not the busy worker. I'm so glad I teach language arts because it affords itself to dreaminess instead of facts and figures, memorization and red penciled meanness. I'm ever so grateful for THAT! Smile. So today I went on a meandering walk along the streets and paths that surround us. I found some life giving, breathtaking sights and I chose some beefy quotes to go with the photos.
"The main thing is to immerse ourselves in the material, and reach for the intensity." ~Anne Rice
"I'm exaggerating so you'll get to know me faster." ~ Amy Hempel
"Teach yourself to work in uncertainty." ~Bernard Malamud
"The unconscious creates, the ego edits." ~Stanley Kunitz
"A little autobiography and a lot of imagination are best."
~Raymond Carver
"Without pressure, the work doesn't get done at all."
~William Saroyan
"I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing."
~Agatha Christie
"These are only hints and guesses,
Hints followed by guesses, and the rest
Is prayer, observance, discipline, thought and action."
~T.S. Eliot
So, I am going to let the clothes on the wash line get completely drenched by this "out of the ordinary" afternoon downpour, heat up some leftover meatloaf (I LOVE ketchup!) and a tired ear of corn on the cob. I am going to go to the post office and mail two packages, move on to the grocery store to buy the makings of a tasty family dinner and then I shall be ready to wake up tomorrow and drive to school. There are six weeks of school before my birthday, four weeks after that before we take our fall trip to Aloha Land, three and a half weeks after that will be Thanksgiving, and three weeks after THAT will be Christmas break. It's going to go fast and I will remain the recipient of great GRACE from a God who loves me. Whew.
20 comments:
God bless you my friend, God bless.
Have fun with it all. I am moving into a very, very full semester with some difficult course work anticipated. I envy your literary dreaminess! :)
But... I know what you mean about staying home. When we feather a nest that suits us perfectly, it is nice to spend a great deal of time there!
Enjoy the day, dear Pom Pom!
I saw a fabulous quote over the weekend by somebody so famous I instantly forgot who they were. "Live every day of your life." As you seem fully to do! So soon back to porridge. Cook, little pot, cook! (Do you have the story of the Magic Porridge Pot in the States or is that like asking if we have television in Ireland?!)
What a lovely walk you had today....and time to ponder your days coming up at school. I'm glad that you get to share your dreamy literary loves with the kids, but best of all are those prayers you'll say for them. God bless you.
As for home....I'm a stay-at-home worker and even when I go away for a day to run errands or do something fun, I can't wait to get back to my comfy, familiar home. I understand how much you want to be there too. Count the days and enjoy today too.
Jody
can we go to Hawaii with you?
I know the feeling, I love my job but I love my home life better! You have such a busy life but reading your blog is like a small air pocket of calm! Betty x
I hope you enjoyed your day. Some of those kids may not be prayed over by anyone else in their day, week, year. What you are doing is the most important thing imaginable. You are not a worker bee, but you will always be His workmanship (Eph. 2:10). That word workmanship in the Greek is "poema", a bit of a stretch linguistically, but you are His poem. I am thankful for you.
magsmcc: we have the story of the magic porridge pot in Norway =) =)
So many things to look forward!!!
I hope your return to work will go smoothly!
xxx
Good luck with the first day of school. Love the quotes!!
You are precious to your students...I wish my teachers had been like you.
Wonderful quotes and honest-to-goodness writing from you, as always.
Love you Pom Pom, xxx
I am sure that your students look forward to your return.....but I know that sinking feeling of not desperately wanting to go to school! (as a teacher, of course!)
As always, I think your students are so lucky. I would love to sit in on a day of your classes. Tell your school to fly me out for a visit! Wouldn't we have fun?
I have some short travels this fall and already I'm homesick! I love home the best,but I suppose it's good to go away so I can appreciate it even more when I get back.
Thanks for the quotes. I'm going to copy down the Eliot one to think about all day.
xofrances
Your students are so blessed to have your love, prayers and love of teaching. You are making a difference! I am saying a little prayer for you as you begin a new year with so many wonderful possibilities.
I love the quote about exaggeration! That made me laugh out loud.
Hugs from texas...
i hope that your day was a beautiful one and that your new school year will be full of smiling faces. i think i would be smiling if i were in your classes~!!~
and may your nest remain the softest place to land at the end of the day.
:-)
libbyQ
Oh, Pom Pom, you have said it very well, and I also wish you didn't have to go back, just as I wish I didn't have to go most of the places I do have to...Your one quote is good against this: "Without pressure, the work doesn't get done at all." ~William Saroyan
Well, I know that a lot of things wouldn't get done, if I didn't leave home and do them. Good things. And who knows the effect of the million ripples of love spreading out from your classroom?
It's a great collection of quotes, too. Thank you!
Oh my dear Pom, I know just how you feel (I think ;-). You know I'm a home girl too, and like you, I could stay contentedly at home day after day after day -- never feeling the least bit slighted by my homely existence. But, as others have said, your students are truly blessed to have you -- truly blessed!
Sending big hugs and hopeful prayers your way,
G
Hi again Pom!
Have a quick question -- did you have any trouble leaving your comments earlier? Jess called to say she couldn't leave a comment, so I wondered if Google's new spam blocker was causing problems I don't know about?
Tanks Missie!
G
Oh I am not a worker bee either! I think maybe we are dreamer bees! That's an important job too you know. Without first imagining things nothing would ever be created. P.S That Agatha Christie quote has been one of my favourites for years x
Wow! When you write it that way, it will go fast!! It kind of made my heart jump into my throat when I read it.
I love all the photos and quotes -- especially the one by Stanley Kunitz. It's so true!
Blessings!
Deborah
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