Every year, there has been one day I dread more than the others. That day is the first day of school. This is not your typical teacher lament, mourning the lazy days of summer. It's more than that. See, in New Jersey, the first day of school means the onset of fall.
While some people revel in the thought of the cooler season (not to mention pumpkin spice everything), I am not one of those people. I have always said that I'm solar powered. I love sitting in the sunshine and being warm. I would take being hot over being cold any day of the week. (In fact, I often get into my hot car and leave the air off for a few minutes and enjoy the warmth...only if I'm alone, though. I know better than to subject others to my oddities.) It means shorter days, cold weather, and, before long, being stuck in the house for months on end because it is just too cold to go outside.
In terms of going back to school, it has always meant being stuck in a school building for 8 or more hours a day without so much as a chance to go into the outside world. It meant missing the few nice days left because I was stuck in my classroom, while wistfully looking out the window. It means that the few hot days left were spent in my sweltering classroom, while being told that, no, I cannot take my children outside to learn in the fresh air. Basically, it was a life I didn't enjoy, a life of confinement, and a life I dreaded each year.
This year, though, it feels different. Even though I've been back at school for over a month, I still feel like I'm waiting for the first day of school. Maybe it's the fact that I'm at a new school and incredibly excited about this new opportunity (although every other time I've switched schools, it has caused me anxiety, not excitement). Maybe it's the fact that I'm still trying to get settled into a very new (and still impermanent) life. But, I think it's actually neither of those things. I think it's the weather.
This year, I thought I would be heartbroken that I had barely 5 weeks to call a summer (and most of that time was spent either on the road driving to Florida or nurturing sick kids who were adjusting to a new school, new house, and new life). But, as I set out that first day in early August, it just felt different. I think it's because this year, I knew that the start of the school year didn't mean the end of summer. It didn't mean the closing of a pool, the abandonment of beaches, or the piling on of layers. It still meant long days with warm (nay, hot) weather. It meant swimming on the weekends, and being able to go out in the evening or leave for work in the morning without having to put on a jacket or turn on the heat in my car. I also know that this fabulous warm weather isn't going anywhere anytime soon (or anytime at all, for that matter...this is Florida, you know.) and that I can still enjoy it. I also have the added bonus of working on an amazing campus where I'm forced outside at least twice a day to walk to and from the dining hall, and where I can (and am encouraged to) take my classes outside or sit and grade in the courtyard in my off periods.
So, even though I'm back at work (my 5:15 a.m. alarm reminds me of that daily), I still feel like it's summer vacation. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop and to really start the school year.
Until then, I'll just keep on feeling like I'm on summer vacation.
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