My Autumn

Tomorrow is the first day of autumn, the inevitable lead-in to a dreaded, cold winter and the official end to the lazy, hazy days of summer.  Though it feels like summer really ended with Labor Day weekend, it's definitely been hanging around weather-wise, anyway.  Last year I had written a post called A Time For Dying, and though that piece was written for real loss, it also called into account the significance of the season.  Here's some of what I wrote...

Fall is a beautiful time of year, colorful leaves, a refreshing burst of brisk, fresh air, and Halloween.  Autumn is also a sad time, too.  It is the season when the flowers no longer bloom, the trees lose their leaves, and the cool air quickly turns to cold as a stark reminder of what's to come.  

The cycle of the year correlates so well with the cycle of life,  People are born into this world, into a conscious awakening, to live, to grow, and to learn.  The spring and summer of their lives are filled with naivete, promise, and hope, and soon enough autumn makes its appearance, giving way to a knowing maturity and a wealth of memories and experiences lived. Increasingly, though, the impending winter of our lives makes its presence known in the physicality of our experience. Aging is not all a pleasant process. 

I'm going to be turning 50 in just a couple of months.  My autumn!  It's been on my mind, for a long time now...probably since last year when I turned 49.  I don't feel 50, and I don't think I look it either, but I can't avoid it.  I can't, even though I'd like to.  I thought that by this time in my life I'd be in a far different place than I am right now, a place where I'd be sharing my life with someone special and enjoying more of the things that life has to offer,  More comfortable in the world.  Where did the time go?

I'm not going to go all depressed on you, though.  Lol.  My life is pretty darned good, despite whatever problems I may have, and I'm going to be 50 like I was 49 and 48 and so on... In other words, I'm going to continue to be me, forever young at heart (and hopefully in the looks department, too!)!  The impending change of seasons has gotten me a little down this weekend, can't you tell?  It's be only temporary, though.  There's a lot more of me to come, so if you're with me, stay tuned.

Here's how I finished that post from a year ago.  They're just some words of wisdom I have to keep reminding myself of every now and then....

No, autumn isn't really a time for dying.  But then again, it is.  The end can come in any season, and those of us who've reached our autumn should count our blessings at the lives we've been given so far.  The key is to cherish the memories, appreciate every moment in the present, and do all that you can do to make sure your controllable, physical endurance is nurtured and plan well for what may come.  No one really knows when time runs out, so make the most of it, no matter what season you're in!

  

A Time for Dying

There's been a chill in the air lately.  Autumn is in full swing, and another year moves quickly along towards the end of its life.  Trees are baring their leaves at a furious pace, and little by little, it's starting to feel like a sad ending.

Flickr

Maybe I'm just in this state of thought because I've been reminded of our mortality this week with the passing of two people whom I did not even know...and my mom's cat.  Snickers was the first to go, on Monday. The poor thing was only twelve years old and became inexplicably sick suddenly just a few days before.  He wasn't my favorite animal in the world, he wasn't the friendliest cat, but I did feel for the poor thing who passed way too young for any animal.

Next came the deaths of two people who passed just in the last couple of days, both connected to my pal Rich.  The news brought me to contemplate the meaning of life and my place, or purpose, in it once again.  I know it's human nature to think this way when anyone dies, but the fact that my 49th birthday is coming doesn't help matters any.  Like the year 2013, I am also in the autumn of my life.

Fall is a beautiful time of year, colorful leaves, a refreshing burst of brisk, fresh air, and Halloween.  Autumn is also a sad time, too.  It is the season when the flowers no longer bloom, the trees lose their leaves, and the cool air quickly turns to cold as a stark reminder of what's to come.  

The cycle of the year correlates so well with the cycle of life,  People are born into this world, into a conscious awakening, to live, to grow, and to learn.  The spring and summer of their lives are filled with naivete, promise, and hope, and soon enough autumn makes its appearance, giving way to a knowing maturity and a wealth of memories and experiences lived. Increasingly, though, the impending winter of our lives makes its presence known in the physicality of our experience. Aging is not all a pleasant process. 

No, autumn isn't really a time for dying.  But then again, it is.  The end can come in any season, and those of us who've reached our autumn should count our blessings at the lives we've been given so far.  The key is to cherish the memories, appreciate every moment in the present, and do all that you can do to make sure your controllable, physical endurance is nurtured and plan well for what may come.  No one really knows when time runs out, so make the most of it, no matter what season you're in!

  

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Sunday, October 21, 2012: Bowling...Who'd a Thought?; More Teacher Bashing

universal scraps

Sunday is such a unique day of the week.  Normally, I love a Sunday morning, especially a beautiful one like today.  In the morning, the rest of the day is filled with possibility of relaxation, enjoyment, and who knows what else, but then as the day wears on, workday Monday begins to loom and my whole attitude changes.  Ah, well, such is life, right?

Eventbrite

Bowling...Who'd a Thought?

Last night, one of my new bowling buddies, Tim, invited me to a party that one of his teammates was giving.  Tim's team was the team that my team played on the first night of bowling and that became my wonderful introduction to a whole new gay world.  Who'd a thought?

The guys on Tim's team, Tim, Sean, Al and Steve...(well Steve's the only one I don't really know yet)...are all fun, genuine people, and I already consider Tim and Sean good friends. Al was the one who hosted the party and there were plenty of guys from the league there, all plu's, and all really nice.  After all of my lamentations about the single life these past few years, I only wish I had done this sooner, and I'm looking forward more than ever to getting to know more people and expanding my circle of friends.

More Teacher Bashing 

One of the things I like about Sunday mornings is reading the Sunday paper.  It's a lifetime Sunday morning ritual that I look forward to, though it's not always a pleasant experience.  I only read the paper once a week because almost always there are things in there that get my blood boiling, like today.  My hometown newspaper is called Newsday, and it's a pretty respectable paper for a non-metropolitan area periodical, though quite often it gets me frustrated!

For the past nine-plus years, I've made my living as a teacher, and it's taken that long for me to become a little jaded at my profession.  I became a teacher for many reasons: it makes good use of my natural talents, I love working with kids, and I have an innate compassion for my students that transcends just teaching.  My students and I are as close as you can get to being a family, and I've been fortunate enough to have maintained contact with many of my students long after they've graduated.

To me, teaching is one of the most honorable professions a person can take on.  Teachers are tasked with a huge undertaking, which in reality is helping to prepare our young ones to be productive and contributive towards society...our society.  Children are our future and teaching them is a teacher's way of contributing to our society today and into the coming years.  So why then do so many people seemingly hate teachers?

Teacher bashing has become a very popular activity these past several years.  For whatever reason (I have my thoughts), teachers have become so vilified in today's society, and part of the problem is that the media seems to only fan those flames, like Newsday has done today.

The cover of today's paper features a headline that reads: LI Teachers: Take a Course, Get a Raise, with a subtitle, Easy Money: Questionable classes boost salaries, costing taxpayers.  The imagery featured between the headline and subtitle is a listing of various courses, I would guess deemed 'questionnable" by the paper.

The key word here, of course, is 'taxpayers.'  Therein lies the source of teacher bashing in today's world, and Newsday once again is irresponsibly fanning the flames of disgust and vitriol against my profession.  The special 'investigation' takes up the entire first five pages of today's paper, and goes on to make a case at how teachers hike up their salaries by taking meaningless courses of required professional development.  The article points to several seemingly ridiculous courses that appear to have nothing to do with teaching, and yes, I would agree that there are teachers who take such courses not for the knowledge, but for the money, but what I have issue with here are all of the implications the article makes, and how certain, specific details are highlighted in order to fan those flames.

My question here is: Is Newsday a friend of education or purposely trying to vilify the teaching profession by inciting certain anger towards us on the part of its readers?   There's a lot more I wish to say about this, and so I feel a piece coming on for Examiner, which is likely to get more views than this blog post, so stay tuned for that...

A Beautiful Autumn Sunday

There, now that I've spoken my piece, I'm going to get moving and head on out to enjoy this absolutely typical and gorgeous autumn day.  Too bad I have no one to share it with, though...sigh!  This is one of those kinds of days where I wished I had someone...  Anyway, thanks as always for checking me out.  Enjoy the day!

 

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