whirlwinded

on a day when i was worn out from a weekend of running around and cooking and cleaning nonstop, mother nature fittingly gave me a day to relax. what would i have done had the weather been glorious as the three prior? drove three hours one way to west virginia to climb rocks, no doubt.

voicemails at 11:30 on a school day are rarely good news. "mr. j, your glockenspiel is broken in your transaxle filter. there's also a unicorn jumping around in your muffler that has punched several holes in your catalytic converter. this fix will cost you your left arm and your firstborn daughter." imagine my surprise when it turned out to be my parents on an earlier flight. e.t.a. 2:30, four and a half hours of cleaning time ahead of schedule. oh, well. guess ma will just have to see my apartment at its finest!

weekend couldn't have been better. i tried too hard to get them out of the house and doing stuff around this bewitching beltway town. we traipsed around woodley park, walking to the national cathedral. we visited with family in rockville. we watched college gameday and took in a few exhibits at the american art museum/portrait gallery. there were a few wicked cool new exhibits, and i got to feel like an art expert walking around one i'd already seen. "the juxtaposition of this adams photograph plays quite nicely off o'keefe's muted colors and use of the same subject in middle-of-nowhere, new mexico, don't you agree?" [insert haughty brahmin laugh]

best of all was that little holiday they came up here for. the meal was better than last year, even if my stuffing didn't all make it into the oven. it was about family and gratefulness for another great year gone by. things to be thankful for in the upcoming year; i just can't wait to see how they pile up.

thanksgiving, succinctly

never really knowing much of a blessing growing up, i picked up two along the way. succinct though they were, they've stuck with me since the first time i went to philmont at the age of 14, or since my last meal at ye olde delta shelter. the only thing that these two leave out is the ever-present love in all of our lives, be it from family, friends, or that special someone we've been lucky enough to find.

first, philmont.

for food, for raiment, for life, for opportunity, for friendship and fellowship, we thank thee, O Lord. Amen.

i think that one is still in my brain because i used to say it to myself before every meal that i didn't eat at the delt house in college. that one didn't lend itself very well to solo recitation. it needs the voices of about 50 guys

Creator, we bow our heads,
grateful for life and this daily bread.
Help us contribute to all human good,
out of our Delta BROTHERHOOD.

can you guess which word we stressed in a louder, whiter version of barry white? happy thanksgiving to you and yours. may your blessings be numerous and your woes be few!

grateful

every year, i get gifts from my students. leading up to christmas break (yes, i said christmas break! p.c.-sensors be damned!), i field many subtle and not-so-subtle queries about what i like to do or what i'd like for christmas. i haven't been one to outright tell anyone what i want for christmas since i was a kid. why? the thoughtful gifts from the heart mean more to me than the ones that i'd tell someone to get me. if there's something i need, sure, i'll let that be known. someone that listens to me can figure out pretty easily what'll make me smile.

i'm grateful for all the gifts received from my students because i certainly don't expect them. hell, some years, i don't even feel like i deserve them! i'm noticing that the cards and smaller gifts i receive from my less fortunate students are the ones that i appreciate more. does that make me an ingrate towards the students that can afford to get me something nicer? or the ones that do it because their parents feel like it's almost expected of them as the price of admission to my room?

one of my students from years ago (listen to me, i sound like an old man) gave me a simple card for christmas. nothing fancy, just a hallmark card. i still have that card because i knew it was from the heart. throughout the year, it was a struggle for her family to scrape together $2 for a field trip or buy pencils for school. her mom wrote the sweetest note in the card that i know my student picked out.

and like a girl, tears welled up in my eyes.

thankfulness

this year, i am thankful for...

the courage to make a new start.
family and friends to help make the change, despite having no job and no home.
the continued blessing of family and friends as i adjust to the change.
new friends.
old friends.
happiness.
health.
wealth.

tabula rasa.i've been saying it since i left. it took a while for the blank slate to actually exist. letting go of the last 10 years was hard to do, especially leaving the grgers.

this took on a new meaning as well. in the last 3 years or so, gainesville finally became home. i belonged. i never had that sense of home in so.fla. yes, my parents are there, but i never had that bond with my surroundings as i did in the 'ville. i am thankful for that sense of home that i was blessed with for that most recent home, but i also know that it was indeed time to move on.

...and i am immensely thankful that i chose to do so.