Hey, you never know!

Never would I have imagined that, at this age, I would think in terms of semesters.  This weekend  feels especially open and free because a semester ended Friday.  I very much enjoyed the semester but it became hectic the last few weeks as I also had to work on a quilting project for a deadline.  The last thing I wanted to do was be a teacher. In fact I resisted persistent advice to get a teaching certificate because it was what young women could depend on back in those days.  No thank you!  I could depend on my typing skills.  I did.  I never regretted it. 

I find I have teaching in my psyche.   In my late 20s I discovered yoga.  No one in a hundred mile radius seemed to have heard of it, I began teaching my friends the asanas and breathing techniques I found so helpful.  I did not specifically teach anything else until three years ago when I began teaching a writing class because I felt the local Academy for Lifelong Learning lacked a class that taught the skills needed by people who wanted to put their experiences into words.  Classes existed that just said, "write and read it in class."  No -- that's not helpful enough, I thought.  People need to remember, or learn for the first time, basics of interesting writing -- description, active verbs, dialog, and so on.  Helping adults write well has been satisfying and fun for me and, they say, for them. 

Besides teaching, of course, I am taking classes.  I am a gatherer of information and experience.  So taking ALL classes have been a joy also.  Of course, both teaching and learning I've met many people and made friends.  So -- to my surprise, my life is now divided into semesters.  I face a summer vacation and feel like the school children I remember -- but better.  Because summer used to be a rather lonely time.  It is not a lonely time now -- plus I live in a beautiful place that is a vacation destination of thousands -- I have the ocean, the beaches, the flower filled towns and streets every day.  Plus uninterrupted days to write  or quilt or read a book -- whatever.   Wonderful!