Hello all,
August has flown by! This month has always felt like the New Year for me with the beginning of school. Now that I am taking a break from teaching full-time, I have felt major FOMO when I go to Target and see the new multi-colored notebooks and pristine pencil packs.
Teaching is not something I am giving up on forever. With the move and needing to leave my old school, I didn’t feel like recommitting again to a new curriculum and culture and coworkers and students if we were only going to be here for a year. Teaching is so incredibly personal and vulnerable, and it’s painful for me to think about my students I've left behind in Texas. I am someone who feels things so deeply, and in a way, not teaching this year is a way of protecting my cute little tender heart.
With that decision has come new challenges and a change of pace. As someone who thrives on routine, I don’t really like waking up and trying to figure out how I’m going to spend my time that day. I’ve been drawing and reading and writing and yoga-ing a lot more, and I’ve even hired a Chinese tutor to brush up on my Mandarin! But honestly, I miss the day-to-day of being constantly overstimulated by teenagers trying to get my attention and then going home and wanting to shut myself in a room with no lights or noise. And I didn’t think I’d say that :)
On a happier note, a few days ago, we had a themed dinner with some friends! The theme was “Memories of the Fruits of Summer.” I’m always up for a good theme, and this one did not disappoint. We all laughed at how many peaches there were, but nobody complained.
Moving into this house means that we’ve inherited some fruit trees! And our peach tree is bursting with sunset-colored globes of goodness, which inspired August’s poem below. I’m constantly humbled by nature’s ability to grow and let go, year after year.
Enjoy xx
August
In August,
The burdened fruit trees are generous.
The markets are filled with their jams and juices
Baskets brimming with sweetness
Golden evenings make
Everything more ripe and willing
Among the warmth and the heat,
Sometimes an unexpected breeze
Sends goosebumps up your shoulders.
“Did you feel that?” you’ll ask
no one in particular,
remembering
Each year, the golden hues will turn into blues,
but in August, the strain of the year
is full and red and begging to be picked
You know this, but still you stand by your peach tree dumbly,
basket in arms,
willing the swollen fruit to fall on its own.
Thanks for reading,
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Loved reading about the big changes that you are experiencing! Returning to Utah, not teaching school this year, and having fruit trees in your yard! Hope that you have fun surprises coming up - that you make new friends - and that you enjoy your fresh peaches! ☼♥☼
It sounds like a lovely time and space for you to just be and explore.
I love this line in the poem: "Each year, the golden hues will turn into blues." 💛💙