Teachers look forward to summer like kids look forward to Christmas. For as long as I can remember, well, since I started Kindergarten, I've had this cycle of having summer off then starting fresh in September, except for when I was in college, during which time I still had to work. Even that was still a break from academics...all I had to do was wait tables, not pass any tests or write any papers. Just earn tips. Easy.
School's been out now for exactly 2 weeks. I have yet to sit around all day doing nothing. Since that's what I fantasize about all year long, you'd think that would be the first thing I'd do. Nothing, blessed, peaceful nothing. But that's proving to be a challenge. Friends ask me what I'm going to do all summer, to which I reply with a shrug of my shoulders, mostly because I feel like the possibilies are endless. But they're not. Ten weeks is a lot of time and it isn't a lot of time. In June, 10 weeks stretches out in front of me like the view from atop a mountain. In August, it's just a memory, and I find myself wondering where summer went.
I know how to pack in the memories, though. Sitting around is nice, but it's not all it's cracked up to be. A person can only watch so many reruns and see so many movies...Yeah, I drove 778 rt miles to see a rocket launch and it didn't pan out. But now I can say, "Remember that time...?"
In the past two weeks, I've been to Utah, Las Vegas, and Lompoc. I watched my nephew graduate from high school, met my new 4 month old niece, visited with family, saw dinosaur tracks and a Vegas show, hiked in some very beautiful places, heard (due to fog) a rocket launch, and ate Danish pancakes. I've read two books and seen two movies. I've taken all the pets to the vet on two separate visits and had to euthanized my cat, but found out my 12 year old dogs are healthy. I suffered a muscle spasm in my neck. I took another jewelry making class and have thought about opening a store on Etsy. It goes on and on and on....the chores alone make me wonder how it is possible for me to even have a full time job.
Yet summer means more than "doing nothing." It's time to do what I want to do, without the restrictions of a schedule or a commute. Today I can make choices.
Today I choose to do Nothing... later.
