Merely Day By Day

This morning is my husband, Jeff's, last day with kids. It isn't just any last day, it's an Alice Cooper last day:   "School's out for summer, school's out forever." While Friday is his official last day, I know his last day with kids feels like the final day of his career. He retires at the end of this week. In 36 years of teaching, he's enjoyed every day with those crazy 8th graders. Thirty-six years in the same position. Thirty-six years and the only classroom move was because they tore down the old middle school and built a new one. At the beginning of this pandemic year, I encouraged him to go ahead and retire. I mean, (shhhh!) he wasn't getting any younger and the virus seemed unrelenting. "I want to see what the year brings," he said confidently and headed off to a new group students and a year of ever-changing circumstance.  This morning my phone has been buzzing with updates. I just received a video his students made, #JeffTok, ...

"Life is a river of stories." Kim Stafford, The Muses Among Us More trees? Slowly we are settling into a pattern of warmer days.  The sun comes up earlier in the morning and stays with us a little longer each day.  Having been an unusually warm winter for us, it is not surprising to see signs of spring already appearing.  The birds are already chirping happily when I step outside for the first breathe of outdoor air in the morning.  The crocuses have already opened in our flowerbeds and the tulips are beginning to peek out from their winter slumber. My husband, Jeff, has already been preparing for spring.  His preparation actually began last fall when he went around trimming trees in need of a little pruning.  Sine then he has been watching the trees for signs of life.  As soon as the warmer air arrived he was wandering around our yard to be sure the deer, who find the trees perfect for scratching their antlers, hadn't caused too much damag...