Usually we don't return to school until everything has melted, but on the last day of a snow-filled week, we showed up to find school looking unusually attractive:
I. and I spent most of January sitting in the house waiting for school to come back in session, and a huge part of February travelling. In the middle of February, a time distinguished by a sad lack of snow days, we managed to travel several thousand miles and visit eight separate states (all while missing only one day of school).
This semester has been quieter than last; I dropped a class and was given permission to assign books that met my students' reading levels. As a result, although I ended up reading sixteen separate books for ninth grade alone, I had a much more enjoyable time and experienced far less stress overall.
We've also been building up the school library, which--for upper school--is smaller than my personal library at home. I've spent a few planning periods rearranging books, and have been able to suggest a few books to buy, as well.
(One bookcase, in December. It has actually improved quite a lot since this photograph was taken).
Our February travels led us to Alabama (to see a wonderful production of Carmen), Illinois (for a funeral), Maryland (for the dentist), and many states in between. March was filled with rehearsals for a play called Plotville, written by a colleague, in which my most excellent husband played a major role and for which production I designed the set.
Here's my set:
And here's my husband in his role as a preeminent (but treacherous) Council Member. Plotville is about a town filled with people who love to write, so the enormous feather in his pocket is his character's personal quill pen.
Shortly before the production, I spent a few too-brief days in Washington visiting the Folger Shakespeare Library for the first time in more than a year. As ever, I relished my moments of research and writing, but I was additionally impressed by the commitment of staff and researchers, whose summer cycling habits are, like the Post Office of old, unhampered by bad weather.
Spring has sprung, and Tennessee is already sweltering. With the play and most of our travel completed for now, I. and I are looking forward to spending a few weekends sitting quietly and sipping iced tea. We have not wanted for adventure and travel in recent days!
