“Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you did not do, than by the ones that you did do.” ~Mark Twain
I find myself grinning a lot lately. Every time I look at my desktop picture on my computer screen. I put it there to remind me of where I will be living soon. It has been perfect weather up here at the cabin for the last 2 weeks. Normal for August but nonetheless especially appreciated right now. After so much rain on my last ride, I was kind of bummed out. But as so often happens, if you wait it out, things change, and just as often as not they get better. Certainly the weather does. Not that I mind rain. Hardly. Just the downpours when I am riding the bike I am not so fond of.
Bonnie and Max were in California doing a family wedding and camping trip (the perfect Krimmel scenario), so it was even quieter around here then usual. I decided to make candles, to use up the last of my wax supply before heading south in December. It is such a relaxing exercise, I am so glad I took up that little hobby. I made some more soap last week as well, I had used or given away the remainder of the last batch, same sensation. It is so satisfying on such a basic level to do things like that. Smell is as powerful a sense as sight, esp. when you close your eyes.
I was sitting on the porch the other evening, watching the sky light up with reds and pinks and then slowly darken, and a thought crossed my mind. I was talking to a new friend earlier in the day and when she found out I was a teacher she kind of perked up. How many of us still think teaching is a noble profession? I don’t normally think of myself as a teacher. I am still a student. Even though I spend 3/4 of my time at work in the presence of students, I think I learn as much as they do with each interaction. I like to be thinking, and talking to students makes me think.
Lighting Design was and is my first love, and sometimes I look at some of the designs I have created while here at CU (like the ones in this post) and I am satisfied. I have done well, and along the way a few young people have probably learned a few things from me which they are able to build on and it will make them happy. What else can one do?
Now, today, the first week of classes is over, and it is Labor Day weekend. A student sent me an email saying welcome back to my last first week of classes. Indeed. The countdown has begun. On my office door is a whiteboard given to me as a present by Summer Templin a few years ago, as a thank you gift after her BFA concert was finished. I put “15” in the corner last week. It is the number of weeks until this last semester is over. As I left the building yesterday I changed it to a “14”. When I go in next week I will see that number and grin.