Arlo

This is Karen and myself at the Arlo Guthrie concert in Jacksonville Thursday evening. We were sitting on the 4th row and had a wonderful view. For those of you who don't have a clue who Arlo Guthrie is, watch some of his songs on YouTube. At the concert he sang many of his old standards like "The Motorcycle Song" and "City of New Orleans" as well as some newer tunes. Sprinkled between the songs was his patented humorous banter and stories. It was a great concert and we enjoyed seeing Arlo again (3rd time). This Woodstock icon is aging but his playing and singing seems to improve every year. On the other hand, after a day of work for both of us, Karen and I had a somewhat frazzled appearance. I am still glad that we staggered over to see him.

Retirement Looms Near!

Earlier in this blog I remarked that after 30.5 years teaching I was planning on retiring at the end of this school year. Though I've spent my whole working life in this profession I am still relatively young at 54.

The fact that I was retiring hit me viscerally today when I went to a 2 hour meeting at the county office to fill out forms for insurance and retirement checks and to direct how I wanted payment for my unused sick leave and retirement bonus to be invested. It was a surreal feeling to be part of a line of "old people" who were herded into a meeting room. The thought crossed my mind that this must be how old horses feel on the way to the glue factory. It got even stranger once I was inside. I was greeted by John H. and Danny D., the first two science teachers I met when I started work in St. Johns county 24 years ago! They are both retiring as well after long careers in science education. Somehow it felt right to be going out with the same guys I first worked with at Murray Middle school when I was a young buck with 6 years of experience who thought he knew everything about teaching. I was wrong. These teachers and many others taught me so much about teaching during the next 24 years. Now I know that excellent teachers always keep improving.

I don't know what will happen to this blog at the end of the year. I will probably close it out for any new posts and start a retirement blog. It seems silly to keep up a blog on teaching when you aren't in the business any more. You know, it gives me a creepy feeling to be at this point in my life. It feels like I am in the process of dying, releasing my attachments to my coworkers and students as I gradually slip away. I wonder what I will be in my next life? Someone interesting, I hope!

The Wife's New Car

Last week Karen was driving home from work in her 2003 Nisson Sentra when the tie rod broke, locking the wheels to the right. She ran off of the road and into a metal shed at a marina she was passing. Fortunately she wasn't hurt but the car was totaled so I've been researching small cars with good trunk space for the cat carriers and good gas mileage. We settled on a Honda Fit and bought one at a great price locally. Here it is. So far she is very pleased with it. I think it is kind of cute in a strange, buglike way. The Fit got good reviews and has a high safety rating and reliability rating. It is an economy car but for the money it's very well built, lacking only some of the frills that don't really mean much to us such as navigation aids and satellite radio. We chose it over 8 other cars in its class. I would highly recommend it for anyone looking for good transportation and great gas mileage.

Art Garfunkel Concert

I've always said that you can tell you're at an "oldies concert" because the line to the restroom is longer than the ticket line! Well, we've been getting more than our share of classic concerts in the area and we've been having a ball going to them. A couple of weeks ago we saw the Eagles. Tonight we just came back from seeing Art Garfunkel with the Jacksonville Symphony. Wow! Art sounds as mellow and sweet as he did 40 years ago and the JSO was spot on. Sometimes when orchestras play with pop or rock groups it is a complete trainwreck but I was very happily surprised to find the orchestra blended perfectly with Art's band. I literally had tears rolling down my cheeks as he put everything he had into singing "An American Tune", one of my favorites. It was a great night of beautiful music. In a couple of weeks we go to see another old favorite, Arlo Guthrie. Party on, Garth!!