when i was a kid, my grandpa had a boat, which he named "easy livin'." now, i don't really understand why you have to name your boat, but that is neither here nor there. the fact is, that title would prove to be prophetic in my adult life.
you see, it is now summer, and for those of you who know me and my occupation, you realize that summer is a very good thing in the life of a teacher. now, don't get me wrong, i love teaching. i love the students, i love the content, and i love my colleagues. but as much as i love those things, the last three weeks of my life are pretty difficult to beat:
1. right after school got out, we had a great visit with some old friends from madison who moved to virginia several years ago. (see: emending my mind) for more info on these fine folks. we did a lot of talking, hanging out with their 2.5 year old, walking to the lighthouse, and making s'mores in the backyard. it was great to see them.
2. the next day, i took kara to the amtrak station for her annual pilgrimage to the land of all things big and tacky, texas. while she was gone, my good friend heath and i set off for a backpacking adventure on the superior hiking trail which follows lake superior roughly from duluth to thunder bay, ontario. we didn't go that far. it was amazingly beautiful, and really flippin challenging. we made some great memories though, and that made it worth the pain. oh, and we almost killed willy (my 2-yr-old chocolate lab) on the trip, but he still looked really cool in his doggy backpack.
3. then after a few aimless days as a bachelor, i picked kara up and we got ready for our next trek. some wilderness canoe camping with the jeskes. they should really have a blog so i can turn their name into a link as well. we spent three days in the beautiful sylvania wilderness area in the UP. it's like a mini boundary waters. the weather was perfect, the fishing outstanding, and the fellowship memorable. also memorable was my first official tipping of my canoe. i lost lots of my fishing gear and stayed wet for the remainder of the trip, but all in all, it was pretty funny.
4. currently we are wrapping up a week of no plans. we get up each morning, drink coffee and read, pray, etc. then we work on our little house projects (we have now totally redone the backyard, complete with some urban garden action, and we are in the middle of finishing our basement, which will be a really cool room.), after which i head to the Y to work out, we eat dinner, go for a walk, play scrabble, watch season 5 of the west wing, eat strawberry crisp (from berries we picked the other day), and then fall asleep on the couch and chair, respectively.
5. after the 4th, we will head to the flathead valley of montana for a week of cabin living, including fly fishing, swimming, hiking in glacier np, and just general laziness.
so, yes, i do love my job...but i really really love summer. easy livin' is tough to beat.
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2 comments:
Good to know you guys are still alive, Cory! You disappeared there for a while. Sounds like you've had a fabulous month. I envy it because, even though I get to enjoy the slower pace of summer, I'm also doing the other thing teachers do in summer: work on a master's. I spend much free time daydreaming and planning next summer's trips. Enjoy all of yours!!
sounds awesome, brother. You are seeming to answer Mary's latest blog about our country's need for rest. Maybe we just need twice as many schools so more people can be teachers. We could help to solve our nations need for rest and for smaller class sizes all at the same time! May your summer be truly re-creational!
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