Endless Summer

Isn't it weird how a small difference can have a big effect? Yesterday, the high was only 101 degrees. But because the temperature had reached 108 for the previous three or four days, suddenly, 101 seemed moderate, not so bad.

I got almost everything finished that I'd written on my to-do list. One thing about summer vacation that I really missed while teaching at a year-round school was the opportunity to tackle big projects. Yes, there were the three-week breaks, and that would seem enough time to accomplish many things. But, the difference with that schedule and summer break, is that with only three weeks, there remains the sense of a finite time.

Perhaps I suffer from "little kid-itis"--that sense that summer is here now, and it will never end, and we have endless free time looming ahead. The next school term is far, far away--too far to even worry about now. At any rate, the reality of having those weeks of time, that aren't obligated to the daily go to work routine, enables me to look at the piles of papers built up on the kitchen counter and this time, clean up and file, or toss, every last one of them. I don't have to interrupt the job with thoughts of "I should be in bed" or "I need to correct those essays" or "I've got to spend time on my homework for the graduate class." Instead, I know that I can devote the hour or two to a specific--but not vital--task, and it will not be deducted from a more pressing concern that the clock imposes on me. The piled up kitchen counter can be re-shuffled, and made neat in five minutes, but really, truly looking at each and every item, and making a decision about where it can be put away for good (or thrown away for good) takes time. (If for no other reason than the inevitable old-lady ADD that inflicts me when I take something to another room and get distracted there. When I finally get back to the kitchen, I still have time to resume the archeological dig that I'd started previously.)

So, here it is, the first week of summer, and I've got a checked off list. There are many tidy places in my house, and several more that aren't. But in about 20 minutes, I'm headed out the door to the foot surgery, so those other untidy parts will just have to wait. For the next four weeks, I'll be lying down a lot. But, never fear---I have chores assigned during that period, too. I'm going to change up my teaching for writing next fall, and I have books to read and ideas to write down to facilitate that. Unlike my students, I really do know that summer will end--sooner than we can all imagine. In the meantime, you go swimming, eat some popcicles, lay around, waste a little time. It's good for you.