Actually, the biggest thing I have to do is file. I am thinking about finally going digital with my teaching hoard, as much as is possible. It means copying a lot later on if I need the originals again, and some serious computer time sorting and naming files, but after 21 years of accumulation, it has to be done. I will hide in the air conditioned lab on very hot days and Just Do It this summer. Summer!!! Really? Fastest year ever!
Saw our RMHS graduates all over Facebook yesterday. So proud of them all! Also so happy to see my nephew Benjamin Ropple graduate from Bapst in Maine, too. Literally! My brother sent out a link to the school's live stream so I was able to watch the young fella get his diploma. I liked the speech, too, about the importance of failure in life. The speaker must have read the article on the need for resiliency in our youth. I haven't seen Ben in ten years when I went to Maine to see his older brother graduate. At that time he brought me into his room to play Legos. From what I can tell he seems like a really great kiddo and I wish I knew him better. Ever since he was born I've said that he looks like my dad. Now he truly does. The shape of his head, forehead, cheekbones, etc. - all Ropple. I hope he inherited some of Dad's calm, accepting personality, too. I wish I got more of that, come to think of it!
Spent many indulgent hours this weekend beading. And beading. Getting reacquainted with my bead hoard (yes, I see a pattern of hoarding, here...mostly due to inattention vs. the need to own...although with birds and bees it might be closer to hoarding...) and helping them explode off the surface of my current piece. I like the new way I am working -- total encrustation. Breaking out the bog stones, the heavy metals, the delicate pearls. Balancing color, texture, pattern, and form. Knowing exactly which bead belongs where, in the spur of the moment. Following the river, lost on the moments. Ahhhhhh....summer is coming!
While beading I listen to audiobooks, and lately I am engrossed in the story of the Battle of the Bulge. Called "The Battle" by Peter Toland. Outstanding. The long book covers a short period of time, beginning in early December when the conflict began. I am nearing the end and it is only the first week in January. This is exceptionally meaningful to me as it connects me to the experience of my late Uncle Billy, who was in the 643'rd Tank Destroyer Battalion, 1st Platoon. He enlisted in March of '42 and was killed in April on '45, the same day that FDR died. After reading up on his unit's deployment in preparation for reading this book, I can see that he was truly in the thick of it. Saw, and survived, battle directly. And horrible conditions. Yet his letter home was upbeat and confident that he would be home soon. Amazing character. Snuffed out by a sniper after surviving such hard times. This book should be a must read (or listen) for everyone in my family, if not everyone in general. A lot of military jargon and battle descriptions, but truly engrossing. There is no such thing as a bad day when one thinks of what these folks went through. I am haunted and humbled by their spirits. There is a work of art in here, somewhere. A big one.
Onward to my third to last Monday of the 2016 school year!