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I tempt fate when I neglect my blog. I want it to be read but my readership, modest as it is, needs something to read. I used to think nothing of writing a half dozen posts a day when I was consumed by the Red Plan. For the past two years I’ve slacked off considerably. I blame my neglect on my practicing French. Two hours a day now is not a stretch. Often I’ll write in French or English for an hour with my penpal. Duolingo also takes an hour. Today at my Heart rehab I spent fifty minutes on treadmills watching Peppa the Pig in French. I can follow the conversation for the most part now unlike four years ago when I was first introduced to her. I do plan on speaking passable French at the end of this year.
I have also sacrificed my blog posts for weekly columns in the Duluth Reader. That is no small job. I really do try to write cleanly and a typical column is given five to eight major reedits and takes a good day to complete. I rarely give that kind of attention to a blog post. I have to write one tonight and while I have dozens of ideas I have yet to get one started. That will make tomorrow a challenge. I’m scheduled to attend a Republican District Convention in the morning and afternoon and I’m scheduled to go to the production of E.L. Doctorow’s play Ragtime.
I haven’t missed a column for six months including the month I spent in France last Autumn. I think consistency is important. So after this peek at my life now I’ll get to work on the Reader.
The Peek?
Its the sweet little letter at the beginning which Isaiah handed me at lunch on Wednesday when I watched a school lunch like a hawk. None of the teachers had the decency that day to get sick or go to Doctor’s appointments so I was given miscellaneous things to do. And I have written at least one column in the Reader about a school lunch gone wrong. My son was the culprit.
Isaiah was a younger student whose class I took over a few weeks ago when the elementary kids remained in school and the older “Junior Academy” students went back home due to a Covid scare. I read one of my favorite books in his class Amos and Boris. Holy clam and cuttlefish! Listen to the wave for a two second listen to my reading style.
Isaiah is the son of one of my son’s best elementary school friends. They often spent time at each other’s homes. I knew Isaiah was in the picture because I’ve bumped into his Dad every now and then. Apparently Isaiah learned a little about me from his Dad and he really liked the book I read.
Any way a staff member who came with Isaiah explained that his class was writing letters and that Isaiah wanted to write a letter to me. I was touched. In my time I’ve gotten a lot of letters and cards from kids in classes but this was the first one in years.
Substitute teaching hasn’t all been a joy. A lot of our children have been knocked off course over the two years of Covid and a lot of our teachers are working on fumes. I am glad I’ve gotten a look at how our schools are coping up close. It only strengthens my resolve to make the world a better place.
