Aaahhh...

On Tuesday evening, with just three days of school left, I found myself frowning at the sight of the fireworks trailers that had suddenly appeared the shopping center parking lot.  It didn't seem possible that the festivities of Independence Day were slapping me in the face while I was still dragging myself into work each day.

The last few weeks of school can be tiresome for students and staff.  All eyes are fixed on the passing days of June.  The rhythm of the school year is broken as field trips; state testing and other end of the year activities are squeezed into three short weeks.  Mondays usually feel a long way from Friday, but in June the weeks fly by and before you know it the year is done.

By noon on Thursday the students were rolling out in a parade of yellow buses. The afternoon was spent working on the things that teachers get to do after all the teaching is done.  I covered my bookshelves in bright blue paper, cleared my desk and threw away notebooks and papers that students had left behind.

A few hours later I was back home after two separate happy hour engagements and began packing up for a weekend trip to Richmond.  I watched the dancing yellow flicker of the fireflies as they flew about in the darkening sky.  Summer's warm night air embraced me as I looked up at the clear skies and smiled ready to enjoy all that will come my way during the next 75 days of vacation.