“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose/ By any other name would smell as sweet.” Shakespeare’s Juliet was right, neither her love nor the season of flowers depend on a name, but oh my goodness these last days of May is extraordinarily sweet. I invite you to scroll through this post and linger over each botanical image. You will be elevated. You might even be inclined to find your own blooming spring beyond your doorway.
On Monday I delivered a speech at the Induction Ceremony for our school’s chapter of the National Honor Society. Although I passed on the role of Advisor three years ago, I did oversee the program for over two decades so this night was pure nostalgia to speak to current and new members for such a special occasion. There is indeed irony in my position with this elite society, because I was not seen for myself during my tumultuous teenage years. I was a spinning top desperate to escape the abuse or worse the denial from the start of double digits at home yet like a whirling dervish I lived out those years like an outlaw, unsanctioned and lost. But a life can heal even when it can’t forgive. My 31 years of teaching high school English acted as a restorative beyond my expectations. I am here to tell you, being a teacher is gold. You can make a difference. I am indebted to the hundreds of young people who have engaged with me in the pursuit of Literary/Life Analysis: they have taught me much. I can’t recognize the woman I was when I started this career for she became far more than I could have ever dreamt, strong and remarkable.
This blog post is my speech, (at the end of it I include an audio of myself reading it because speeches are meant to be heard.) I hope my simple words elicit hopeful encouragement for anyone.
Sometimes you really are in the right place at the right time, as we northern Vermonters found ourselves to be on April 8: right in The Path of Totality. As much as I thought I knew everything there was to know about seeing a solar eclipse, it proved otherwise, just mind blowing really. And there really is no way to describe the totality of the experience, it is just too staggeringly extraordinarily awesome (in the truest of that word’s definition). The whole 360 experience of changing light, the temperature drop, the suddenly visible planets Jupiter and Venus, the chatter of bird song, and of course The Dark Side of the Moon that seemed to be playing from everyone’s speakers. Totally cool.
Nine Cent Girl 