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| Thanksgiving 2015, Western MA |
This is the question my dad somehow ended up asking at the
recent wedding tasting at the Inn of Essex on my Thanksgiving break
home in Vermont. By this point, although self-evident, I should point out just
how typical it is that things get off topic with my dad. The
question came about because one of our wedding planners had a dog who died
several years earlier of breast cancer that we discussed sometime between the
appetizers and the main portions. At this point I can’t even remember how dogs
came up but I can always count on Herb for at least momentarily keeping things
interesting.
My trip home to Vermont was, as it usually is, a
rejuvenating experience. Although as I get older it becomes harder to remember
one trip apart from another it seems as good as any way to spend time off. I
hiked up
Philo solo this time which I don’t normally do and although it was
cold and windy at the top, it was beautiful and tranquil. I looked out across
the sunset sprayed Champlain Valley at the top of Philo as my eyes watered from
the cold and snot poured out of my nose. This type of Vermont experience makes me smile. I must have hiked
Philo over 100 times now in my life.
There’s something about doing what’s incredibly familiar
that is surprisingly not boring. Part of why I think it’s
becoming harder to remember one trip home from another is that I don’t really
have “fun” in the same way I did when I was younger. Maybe I’m just older and
remembering things is harder or my concept of time has changed. Or maybe it just
seems like I had more fun when I was younger, I can’t even remember that. While
I know you come home to see family and friends, spending the night out at a
restaurant or a couple of hours catching up with a friend is nice but often sadly unremarkable. Even Thanksgiving kind of feels that
way. It’s a strange thing that feels uneasy.
I wonder if my expectations are out of whack – am I
expecting some sort of life changing event or conversation when I come home? Almost all of my friends, like
me, are now hitched and usually come as a package deal when it comes to hanging
out. I feel like this can “tame” our interactions, put more of a time limit and
consistent format to the hangout, and potentially interrupt more meaningful
conversation. I sometimes feel like a caricature of a millennial. Now, the
conversation topics have so predictably changed to what, as a 20-year-old I
would have called boring: personal finances and investment, Netflix and the Serial podcast discussions, cooking ideas, complaints (half serious half joke) about our significant others,
career, career, and more career, vacation plans, mortgage and property debates,
home security, and other topics I also gravitate towards even without meaning to.
On the whole though, life is good and I should not complain.
At this point last year, I felt like I was drowning as a new teacher. In my
blog around this same time last year I wrote:
"Sleep is one of the most exciting things to look forward to these days." Even
though I’m still a relatively new teacher, at a new school, teaching a new
subject, getting certified to teach gifted students, playing music again in a band (first time since college), and I’m in
the early stages of wedding planning, my life is pretty balanced. Busy, but
balanced. The gifted course is the same sort of mumbo jumbo I dealt with last
year doing the EdTPA and getting certified as a teacher. Hardly any of it makes
you a better teacher but at least we can all check off some more boxes so it
looks like we are doing our jobs. Yes, less than two years in and I’m already
this jaded. The band has been fun, we’ve just played one gig (at the
GlenwoodPub) and we usually don’t practice more than once a week. I get
anxiety about having to learn new music because it’s not just for fun, we
eventually are trying to perform and this takes discipline. Moreover, as an
generally anxious person, it’s probably a good thing that I’m pushing myself
and still trying to learn new things and grow.
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| CNN News room on the tour with Mom and Dad in ATL, Oct. 2015 |
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| Urban hiking @ "Waterworks" w/friends Ben and Marie-Ann |
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| Maya's father Solomon visits ATL before her boards @ Polaris #spinning |
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| Mount Yonah in North GA hike with new teacher friends + dogs |
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| Camels Hump from the airplane, flying into Vermont |
