🌇 On Summer’s End

I always joke that summer isn’t the only reason I teach, but it is in the top five. Yet every summer break, at the end, I think I realize that it might actually be in that top slot.

It’s like a mini-retirement that happens every year. I am able to independently decide what happens, and don’t really have a schedule. The weather is great, and the outdoors accessible. The kids are around, and my wife usually has a lot of her time off during this season as well. The food is better, the days longer, and it can feel like this glorious glimpse of what a life of leisure could be.

Of course, it all must end. I love my job, but school really can feel like the complete opposite. Highly regimented schedules, little control over my time, and stuck indoors all day. These contrasts are what make the transition so difficult for me. Starting Monday, I’ll spend seven hours a day sitting in a high school cafeteria. It doesn’t even have windows. It is hard not to feel like the dog trying to avoid being put in a kennel.

I’m thankful for the summer that is now closing, even if I didn’t optimize every second of it. That’s the real joy of summer: there aren’t any consequences for not achieving. If I could bottle that and carry it with, I would.