Stone Life

It is washing over me now like the cool rains that have watered the black asphalt beneath me these last few weeks. I recollect the feelings of just one year ago today, the dread of starting another school year, being tethered to a classroom and high school students I neither knew nor cared much to know, fighting with the bureaucracy of a graduate student's existence in what seemed to be a futile effort to graduate with a degree that for all practical purposes was finished months prior. The angst and unrest was palpable, as I am sure one could tell from the blog entries of those days.

This year is different on the eve of my first day of classes. As the grainy picture indicates, Julie and I are currently sitting on the patio toasting the advent of a new semester with a sense of ease and enjoyment. I will be taking more graduate hours at one time than I ever have previously, and, though I am only teaching part-time the tutoring load will be substantial, but none of these things are weighing as heavily this year as they have in the past. I realized this summer how much I crave what has become normal. Summers are not normal. Structure is normal. A harried pace, deadlines, expectations, study; these things are normal.

So, if you are so inclined, raise a glass with Julie and I (we prefer cheap champagne, but you can substitute with the beverage of your choice) and let us toast to the return of the grind of the beautiful mundane. Cheers!