Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Interstices



The rental company removed the graduation tent today. That even marks the official end of the end. It usually coincides with the end of my time with tutoring reports, as it did today. Shortly after I submitted the last two reports to be printed, the tent technicians arrived on the scene. I am officially finished with the Kildonan school year and have already begun preparing for summer camp. In 5 days, we begin training a new batch of tutors. There is never a dull day in the life of a private school for students with learning disabilities that specializes in the Orton-Gillingham approach. Lonely maybe, without the hustle and bustle of 150 students ranging from 2nd grade to PG, but not dull.

Transitions always make me uncomfortable. I'm not sure why the spaces in between, the interstices (I believe), are so strange for me. I am never ready to give up the past and inevitably approach the future with apprehension. I don't sleep or eat well during those times, and when they are fraught with emotional overtones, the effects are even more profound. I feel like I am treading water right now. I'm going to take a few hours off tomorrow and then launch myself into preparing for Dunnabeck training. I'm going to pretend that the past is over (isn't that healthy?) and focus on the future.

Here is a list of some things I would like to do this summer:

-finish Benjamin Wistar's sweater before he grows out of it
-take Duncan to the beach
-bake Toll House cookies
-write like a madwoman (currently, I have two journals, a book, and this blog going)
-take Duncan to Yankee Stadium
-reconnect with family members who have suffered from neglect during my crazy year
-put in a vegetable garden, albeit a small one
-watch America's Next Design Star
-learn to upload video to my blog
-earn more blog readers
-teach a nice young man to write a paper with MLA citations and then feed him dinner
-be a playground Mom
-visit the Trevor Zoo
-visit the Bronx Zoo
-take pictures at Innisfree, Bash Bish Falls, and Kent Falls
-visit a new winery
-see a play at Shakespeare and Company
-see Rufus Wainwright at The Egg
-knit with my friends
-see Sex and the City
-find a babysitter
...to be continued...

So here it is, my 50th blog post, mundane, refreshingly free of all the introspection of the last few weeks. Fifty feels significant; it feels like a habit; it feels like a way of life. My family, my writing, and my vocation: that's really who I am now if you cut out everything that is not critical to my health and well being.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

I keep meaning to tell you I love your blog (though I admittedly haven't read all of them). I do have a babysitter for you and am working on compiling a whole list! And, if you'd like company at the Trevor Zoo or the playground (there's a playground?), I've know a happy one-year-old (and her tired mama) who'd like to join in the fun.

Unknown said...

I e-mailed you but forgot to tell you there's a nice playground in Millerton.

Anonymous said...

We can help you acomplish 2 - go the beach and visit family members..

Unknown said...

We definitely have to fit in a visit to you. We owe you! Plus, it's the only way we'll get to the Cape this year! Well, all that, and we enjoy your company too.