Summer’s Here!

Early morning walk

Today is my first official day of summer break. I am an elementary special education teacher, and I always look forward to this time of year when I am able to spend time in my yard and gardens to recharge. Of course, this year continues to surprise and mix up my feelings, having been working from home since mid March due to Covid. Typically, the end of the year comes with a flourish of fun activities, emotional good-byes and “Have a wonderful summer!” well wishes. This year everything felt pretty flat. From several of my students missing the last one or two online sessions to our last faculty meeting where everyone appeared spent and more than ready to call it a day (or year), it’s all felt like a long, slow fizzle. 

So, this morning begins my effort at a new summer routine. I typically have a long list of items on my to do list, but not this year. I think it has to do with having already remodeled our kitchen. Last year’s major “to do” was to plan for the kitchen remodel. It was a long and somewhat arduous task. However, I’m very happy with how it all turned out. Having this new space has been a special comfort during these months at home. We’ve enjoyed hanging out together at the new kitchen island. It has become a center of connection. Here are a few before and after pics.

So what will this summer’s routine be, considering that most of my time will be spent at home? One thing I have learned about myself is that I don’t feel comfortable having an entire day of leisure. To me, leisure feels much more satisfying after having done some type of productive “work”, whether that be home work, such as cooking, cleaning, gardening, exercise, etc. or work that helps me to be a better teacher, or even work that helps me to be a better citizen. 

As things began to loosen up with work over the past 10 days or so, I had more time to devote to some of this home work, seen in the pics above. Gluten free/dairy free rhubarb custard pie and sprouted wheat rustic bread. Here’s links to the recipes: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/sprouted-wheat-easy-rustic-bread-recipe, https://peachesandprayer.com/gluten-dairy-free-rhubarb-custard-pie/, https://www.paleorunningmomma.com/paleo-pie-crust-grain-free-dairy-free/

As for teacher and or citizen “work”, that typically comes in the form of reading. For school, I hope to find some good info on how to help my kids who have trauma in their background by incorporating mindfulness practices in the classroom/school setting. 

Lately, I’ve been quite absorbed in reading online, listening to podcasts, and wondering what can be done about the racism that recent events in the USA have revealed. I am hoping to read or listen to this book by researcher/scholar, Ibram Kendri.

I learned about Kendi’s work via a Brene Brown podcast: https://brenebrown.com/podcast/brene-with-ibram-x-kendi-on-how-to-be-an-antiracist/

Having read Just Mercy back in January, before recent events, my eyes were just beginning to be opened to the systemic injustices in this country. I highly recommend Just Mercy to give you an idea of how the legal system plays into racism to this very day. It was not a comfortable read, but it is very well written and the facts pointing to injustice are hard to deny. I want to know what I can do in my own sphere of influence to bring about critical and lasting change. I want to do my small part, whatever that may be.

There is a Netflix movie based on the book that I look forward to viewing soon.

Well, so there you have it. I set out to write a post about gardening, and it turned into a mixed bag that morphed into how summer plans are shaping up. I’ll leave you with a few flower pics. I’m sure the gardening post will arrive at some point in the near future. Or maybe not! ;-)