It’s Fall Break out this way! The weather hasn’t changed much (yet) but at least we’re not in the triple digits anymore. Joy!
I had a four day work week (after the four day weekend that included Reno) and it was pretty quiet. I love when the district is on break. There are less distractions and it’s easier to do some catching up and prepping for the coming months.
WRITING
National Novel Writing Month is just around the corner and I am not sure what story I’m going to write. My friend challenged me to write a non-romance novel and at first I was open to it. But I have so many possible romance stories in my head and I feel like I must write them, even if no one will ever read them. What to do? Maybe the better question is which fella do I want to think about for a whole month while writing the story?
We’ve had a lot of changes here at work, personnel wise. Some have changed positions. Some have left the area. Some have retired. Those are the good kind of changes, the kind where you will miss them but you’re happy for them because they’re on to new adventures.
And then there’s the change that so sudden, so unexpected, that you’re left wondering if it’s even real.
Here’s something I wrote on the first day of autumn:
your office is dark
your belongings still here
your overcoat and hat on the rack
wait for rainy days to be donned by you
the sharp dressed man
with the ready smile
the well of understanding and insight
with each story and attention
the bridge between the youth
and the ones who teach and guide them
never more to grace our schools’ halls
your cheerful greetings here and there
now mere echoes of memory
your office is dark
your belongings still here
the door is closed
your name plate declaring
this is your space
open the door
the glasses you wore rest on the desk
every piece and picture
a story unto themselves
without you to fill out the gaps
to answer the questions
photos, news clippings, and articles
of achievements by the students you mentored
books on your desk, on the credenza
filled with words that inspired and guided you
a space on the wall with the words
“Family is the key to everything”
above smiling faces
the building is quiet
your office is dark
your belongings still here
I look over at the closed door
I can’t even pretend you’re here
the emptiness pervades
the melancholy drifts in small doses
I try to remember the last time
we parted ways
but all the other work days’ ends
blend together to blur the specificity
just as every morning greeting
seem so long ago now
I hope your spirit flies unfettered
I hope your influence continues to guide
I hope love fades your worries
I hope this last rest brings peace
The man I knew always had an enthusiastic hello and a positive attitude. He was always sharply dressed and professional. I am sad that he has passed. I am angry at the suddenness. I am resigned to the march of time. I am curious about the parts of his life we didn’t know.
His office feels like a snapshot of his life. It’s as if the space is waiting for him to return. His hat and overcoat are on the coat stand. Books line his credenza, a few stacked on his desk corner. Pictures hang on the walls and stand with the books on the credenza. It’s a welcoming space that gives you an idea of the man. And it’s been empty since the beginning of September.
Maybe someday I’ll talk about those days after Labor Day weekend. I walked into the empty building that Tuesday morning and wondered rather fleetingly if he had started his day at one of the school sites because he was always the first one in. The almost daily calls from him assured us that he was all right but merely in hospital for observation. Maybe I’ll talk about how I took his assurances at face value, believing he would be okay then dreading after a week that he might not be. I have those last voicemails from him and I keep them even though I can’t listen to them right now…
I had to clear out my Photobucket account a bit and found some OLD photos/screenshots. The screenshot above is from the 2004 Xena Convention. If you have the Xena Warrior Princess season 6 boxset, there’s a DVD of fan stuff and there I am! Yes, forever immortalized on DVD. Oh, and I know the people behind me.
And that is an Ogo. I barely remember having this device. I wonder what happened to it. Is it packed away in storage somewhere?
Time to post this! I probably should have just saved this post for the weekend and combined the whole two week break but nah!