The excitement of initial change of pace (from zero to 120) wore off after the second week of wrangling cats 12-14 hours per day (if you ever ran a Jr program you know what I mean). The kids are great, the crew beyond words, but by Wednesday every week I now crave my home, my road bike, my little corner store, comfort foods (any food in fact as I live on seaweed salad, peanut butter and banana roll ups these days), and my local social circle. I crave to wake up in the morning without having a to-do list on the heel of my hand that I wrote at various points during the night and being able to just take a deep breath without anxiously anticipating the next phone call. I crave the ocean: The Muddy River, meandering through the neighborhood of Fenway, where I run at the crack of dawn to center my Self most mornings isn't quite cutting it, even though landscape architect Olmstead did a beautiful job of designing the Emerald Necklace, the park flanking the Charles River back in 1890. It's a far cry from the ocean, still largely free and untouched by man.
This weekend I hope there will be no alarms of missing children at 10 pm (they have all been false and caused by unnecessarily nervous parents). No calls at 6am. That I can spend two days almost uninterrupted, surfing, swimming, cycling, relaxing, leaving my mind behind, letting my thoughts wander...
Halfway mark: It feels like summer solstice: a fantastic feeling to have reached this point, but also sad to be heading towards the much anticipated end. I know when it's over I will miss it all: the students chatting outside my window at night, my runs along the river, the tears of homesick students, the smiles when they make new friends...
Eva Mossberg
http://evamossberg.blogspot.com
