What I Did Last Summer

What a cliché title, eh?  I’m not a fan of the long summer breaks in this profession, probably because I’ve heard so much ridiculous commentary from friends who work less and earn more about “lazy teachers who only work nine months”.  If they only knew we squeeze 13 months of labor into that nine months of the calendar, but this summer was rich for me.  In July, I completely turned off the school machine for the first time since I started teaching.  I traveled.  I renovated my house.  I reunited with my guitars.  I had lots of ice cream.  And, I did most of these things with my family.  One of the most valuable parts of this summer was intently observing my children, realizing what dynamic people they are becoming.

My son, the inventor, got on a Bigfoot kick and read every book he could find on the creature.  I thrilled at watching him build traps in the yard, learning how tools work, and ultimately deciding to just build the menace himself, which resulted in a 12 foot tall stick figure from scraps of wood painted brown.  Bigfoot will stand proudly in my backyard to remind me of the glory of long summer days and the freedom of creation.

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Please, share with me something that moved you this summer or reminded you to live fully.

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4 Responses to What I Did Last Summer

  1. Unk says:

    And, you and your wonderful family got visit with Unk for the first time in too long !

  2. Lyn Sutterlin says:

    Bigfoot and Tigers and Bears, Oh, MY! Your Summer Thoughts are beautiful, and as I silently and detachedly (?) celebrate our local “First Day at School” this morning (8/27), I revel in what the power of “extended learning” has in our life-long processes of teaching and learning!
    Dad and I, at ages 67 and 70, were on the edges of our coach seats MOST of the time we were in the United Kingdom! We were “re-remembering” our childhood fantasies of castles, kings, queens, potatoe famines and monarchies of the realms, as well as “feeling” at every turn, a movie or book we had read back-in-the-day. Your blog captures this process well: learning is as fluid as the pool water next door, and as palpable as the claws on BIG FOOT! Thanks be, Sasquatch lives on somewhere–if only in our minds’ eyes…

  3. Joe S says:

    One can buy a Bigfoot face to nail to a tree or buy several sizes of Bigfoot to put in the garden or under the pine trees, all at ridiculous prices from the InFlight magazine the airlines provide. But to read about and build one’s own Bigfoot ! Now that makes an uncle and a grandfather proud. Anything to turn off and tune out the TV and actually DO something brings actual learning and brain training to reality. Would that more you;ng men had such an urge and such an opportunity – and such a father!

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