Closing the Book on the School Year

Yesterday a child came out to wonder
Caught a dragonfly inside a jar
Fearful when the sky was full of thunder
And tearful at the falling of a star
Then the child moved ten times round the seasons
Skated over ten clear frozen streams
Words like, when you're older, must appease him
And promises of someday make his dreams
And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and dawn
We're captive on the carousel of time
We can't return we can only look behind
From where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game,

Joni Mitchell--The Circle Game




Tomorrow will be the last day of the school year for me & my son. It seems like a good time to reflect on the year & close a chapter perhaps. There are certainly a lot of pages in this chapter & it has been quite a ride. My son seems to have made the most growth this year--he went from being a little boy to acting & looking like a teenager. It just amazes me. Just when I wasn't looking, he grew up. He's had a lot to deal with too--from coming home from summer camp & seeing his mom very involved with a man that wasn't his dad and having to deal with all my ups, downs & eventual break-up. (The divorce was different & he was so much younger & didn't understand too much at that point.) Middle school was brand new and being able to negotiate a new school that is so much larger, a new way of attending classes, and most importantly, at least to him, the social miasma which is tween-dom. He seems to have navigated it well thus far.... Visiting his dad in Illinois was rather tumultuous & has continued to cause both of us stress because the fall-out has long-reaching repercussions. And of course his granny's death. In between all that he seems to have picked up a renewed enthusiasm for TKD, has found sailing nirvana when he's racing, and loves to play tennis. All in all, he's negotiated one of the tougher years in a kid's life quite admirably in his mom's humble opinion. I am proud of him. And he still has quite a sense of humor. Soon he'll be leaving for over night camp again & so the merry-go-round turns.

For me it seems like such a whirlwind. I can't believe it's June again. I certainly don't need to re-hash anything here as I think I've written so much & I don't want to beat a dead bull--just a live one.... I think I'm poised for a lot of fresh starts: I'm going back to school this summer to maybe FINALLY finish my school leadership degree. In two weeks I'll be a 2nd degree black belt (if I break the two stacked cinder blocks for practice tonight & for real during the test), & of course the continuation of my racing. This weekend's Leukemia Cup & I'm back on the Beneteau First. Summer work begins on June 29th & it looks to be VERY busy at my school. All in all a very busy summer. I'm sure I'll reflect back on this post in August & wonder where the time went.....