nice if it would be that easy, but here are some final thoughts on a school year...
The good.... billions of moments of cool things happening between myself and those who lived the year; and I have to say that introducing the use of a wiki with my science classes was a great way to close out the year.
The Bad.... it ended and the vegetable garden in the saddest state it has ever been in; mainly due to groundhogs and deer and weather and... enough excuses. It is in bad shape and I don't have the time or energy to save it by myself. We will regroup with what we have in July when the students come back for summer school.
The ugly.... economic times.... it ended with all the residential staff having lost their jobs and students not old enough to graduate are moving to new programs. In 10 months I have seen over 50% of the staff become laid-off. Friends of 13 years and folk I barely knew. Two friends stopped by this week to say they were leaving by their own choice. And the survivors stand and wonder what exactly happened and try to have hope for their own jobs. Having been laid off once I know both the initial despair, but also the eventual joy of what emerged. So I have hope for all those who are no longer co-workers of mine.
The beautiful.... it ended with the flower garden having put on a most marvelous show. The warm and moist March and April got things going fast and furious. Week after week we weeded and marveled at the bounty of blooms. My wonderful assistant made flower arrangements that dazzled the recipients, so it was no wonder that on the last day of the year people turned to us.
Dressed in a suit and tie I waded into the flowers and sent them into my classroom where a wonderful bouquet was created that ended up replacing what had been on the graduation stage. It was full of lilies, bee balm, ornamental grasses, blanket flower, yarrow, Russian sage...
onward.
...
I'm sorry to hear about your veggie garden and the staff reductions. I am holding onto the beauty of the flowers and pride in those students that made it to graduation. I hope you have a restful, refreshing summer!
ReplyDeleteIntriguing, at times, that life can come to us from so many angles, yet somehow, in Him, we manage to take the next step and continue....
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your summary of the year not only for the sentiments expressed but for its dimensional quality. There were opposing elements in the two-dimensional sense--good/bad, ugly/beautiful--yes, but there was that third element that made it all shine: the joy.
ReplyDeleteKathryn... I plan on resting any week now
ReplyDeleteJim... onward it is
Walk2write... now Joy is a good thing to see when you look between my lines
Wow, Wayne, quite an eventful end to the year. I wish you a peaceful and restorative summer.
ReplyDeleteMich