I did not see this last night as it was a torrential downpour and there was no beach time to be had. That is why I channeled an older picture of what I envisioned to be a calmer night.
I remind myself all the time that the K-12 teaching days and that stress far surpass any stress I can imagine for myself while working in higher education. Here, the stress simply comes from the inanity of it all, but not from the labor, time, exhaustion of managing 100+ bodies (and the stress of those adolescent bodies). I definitely get more sleep in the work I'm doing now.
I'm out on the front porch doing my thing, and I wonder how many more days before the temperatures push me back for the indoor life (with heat and blankets, too).
I remain grateful that I chose life by the water in Connecticut, even if it comes with the I-95 corridor, tremendous economic inequities, and its zip code apartheid. I am always thinking about Robin Hood and the intellectual ways I can take from the haves and give to the have nots. It's luck of the draw to land where I am, and I know what I'd be missing if I ever departed. Ah, but I would only depart to another part of the U.S. that had access for viewing the tides. You can look out to the sky or water and realize how vast the world is, small we are, and minuscule our problems. It's not worth it to get too stressed, because in the end that doesn't matter.
Joy does. Serenity. Self-care. Humor. Honesty. Truth.
And that is where I hope I'll continue to travel, even after a week like I just had.
