Looking out into the sunshine

I woke up at the usual time this morning. Although I felt that I had managed a restful sleep throughout the night, I could still feel the fatigue in my bones from a number of restless nights that have taken place over the last week. Changing weather... mind on work... pillow just not feeling right. Any of these things could have been responsible for my fatigue. But, rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I stumbled into the shower to start getting ready for a new day of work.

It was dark and cool this morning... not nearly as cold as yesterday where mitts and a window scraper were necessities, but cool regardless. I was wondering if the sun would make an appearance... the weather's been finicky as of late, and I'm never sure if the gray is going to hang over us in the valley or if the sun will peek out. Driving to the school, I was thinking of sunshine.

After helping in the library and laughing at the power outage that took place midway through the first block, I did my best to take a glance out the windows... it was light enough in the library for students to keep working. Well, those who weren't working on internet research, anyway. I could hear the frustrated groans from members of a class who were in an attached computer lab where only three students had saved their work before the cosmos (or BC Hydro) pulled the plug on the wonderful technology that we rely so much upon.

As I approached the classroom I'd inhabit for the rest of the day, I could see clouds parting outside the windows. Even without power, the room was plenty bright for writing an essay. Today was obviously a day to be a warm body... no actual teaching involved. So while students mulled over "Dulce et Decorum Est" and All Quiet on the Western Front, I peered out the window, wondering if there were people filling up the creekside walkways... wondering if others may have chosen today as their day to walk to work... or maybe to just enjoy a cup of coffee in the window of a quiet cafe. I could see a young lady pondering a short story, or maybe trying to sort out the syntax of her introductory statement.

The power came back on, but it made little difference. The day outside was brilliant and we didn't need the harsh flourescence of the lights to bother us. Students checked in novels, handed in essays, and left at their typical signal. More came, more wrote, more left. One more class came, wrote, left. All the while, I was out walking by the creekside... strolling to work... drinking coffee in a cafe. My body still sat in front of the chalkboards, eyes vacantly looking out onto students who were scribbling out first and second person references or rewriting words that were formerly contractions to ensure the obeyance of formal writing expectations. But in all reality I was out the door, past the houses and stores and streets, in the valley hills, face to the sun, smiling.

My long shadow smiled too as both of us exhaled in the crisp fall air.

T