feeling old

Two of my former students got married over the weekend. Talk about something making you feel old. Granted, I knew them as teenagers so the years haven't gone by too far, but it still made me feel a little older.

It also made me appreciate living and teaching in a small community. The mom owns the salon where I get my hair cut, and the dad owns the company that did the air conditioning in the house I live in. I also happen to be a teacher/case manager of the youngest sibling. It feels good to be a part of the community in where I work. When I go to the grocery, I know half of the cashiers and stock boys. I am frequently served by former and current students when I decide to clog my arteries at the McDonald's drive thru. Trips to restaurants and any local businesses often turn into impromptu parent conferences. I know many teachers who don't like that and want nothing to do with their students outside of the classroom. Not me. They're an important part of my life and for many of them, I might be the only adult that treats them with any respect. That in itself makes it worth it.

The Daily Commute

Well, I'm finally back to commuting to work on my bike. I had started doing that in 2004 to get in shape and save on gas money. But I had stopped doing that in the Fall for a variety of reasons. Now those reasons are no longer valid, so I'm back on the bike. Yeah, it means getting up 30 minutes earlier, but it's worth it. It's about a 25 minute ride to my school. I try to beat the buses - otherwise I engage in "school-bus sprinting" which can be rather exciting. School bus drivers seem to be really annoyed by a lycra-clad cyclist flying by them in a school zone. I really can't imagine why.

I feel better during the day when I ride to school in the morning. It gets my metabolism moving and actually gives me energy for the day - plenty of energy to deal with high-schoolers.

It's amazing how fast I can get out of habits that are good for me. I always use the excuse that "life gets in the way", blah, blah, blah. But the real reason is that I just get lazy. Hopefully I can reverse that disturbing trend and get back to doing what I need to to be healthy again.

Not me

For those wondering, that's not me on the bike, although I have had experiences like that. I guess I have a sick interest in the burning flesh and clanging steel of a bike crash. They're something to behold. When you crash on a bike, there is not really much to protect you, other than a helmet. The lycra is thin, so it shreds like paper as you slide across the road, thereby exposing your wonderful, pale epidermis to the harshness of the pavement. You can actually smell the burning of the flesh.

We have a filly on the farm. Her name is Asheera. She kicked me in the thigh last night while I was trying to corral her into the stall. A few inches higher and the essence of manhood would have taken the shot. Steph said I was christened. I don't know. I always thought christenings were a pleasant experience...

A Brand New Thing

OK. I'm new to all of this. I recently was able to contact a long lost friend of mine. Reading his thoughts and writings inspired me to give it a whirl myself. I used to write quite a bit in my earlier years and found that I was able to gather my thoughts easily that way. Unfortunately, I got away from that practice. Maybe that explains why my thoughts are often jumbled and my mutterings are unintelligible.