Saturday 30 October 2010

A random half term break...

Saturday evening. One more day, then back to school. It's been a random week.

The families I work with go to Mauritius, Barbados, Egypt, Morocco or EuroDisney for their half term holidays. (Skiing in February, of course.) 
I whizz around between here and the UK.

Latest trip was Norwich, to see Jonny. He came down with flu the day we got there, poor thing. Still, we had a good evening together, then whizzed off the next morning to get the plane back here, calling in on a set of godparents on the way. Really good to see them: "We would have been good friends if we'd lived closer," said Kim, some years ago. She was wrong. We have never lived close but we are still good friends. Their friendship is valuable and precious.

Mother that I am, I spent a couple of days praying hard and hoping to hear that Jonny was better. It was a doddle when they were toddlers - there seems more to 'worry' over as they get older... Thankfully, he is on the mend now.

Inbetween the visits to the UK we caught up with household tidying and gardening; took the kayak out on a glassy calm, sunny afternoon, creeping through tiny inlets in the rocks as seaweed undulated gently beneath us. Went surfing. Enjoyed 'down' time.

Today, I have spent a day at New Wine Women Guernsey. Ellie Mumford spoke to us. What refreshment!

Monday 25 October 2010

Joys and bittersweetness

Off we went to Manchester on the red-eye (yes, I love getting up at 5am) on Friday, whizzing back here Saturday evening, late.

Hired a car. Drove to pick up my mother. She chatted non-stop as soon as she got in the car, continuing for the next couple of hours. Beautiful drive through autumn-tinged fields, red-gold leaves sharply in contrast with rich black loamy fields. Coffee, sitting in warm sunshine streaming through the windows.

Bittersweet. She could hardly walk, complaining of tiredness after half a dozen steps. She barely knew me. What she said rarely made any sense at all.

Drove to Bradford over the Pennines. Superb views. Even more superb to meet Catharine at Christians Against Poverty. What a fantastic place to work: open, friendly, huge fun; focused on helping people escape the confines of debt and the shackles of fear. And a daughter so full of joy and enthusiasm, loving every minute of her new life. Drive to Yorkshire National Park, Bolton Abbey, Ilkley - such a feeling of space, history, a new culture beckoning exploration. Another time...

Then the farewells. Bittersweet. 8 weeks to Christmas.

Whizzed back towards the airport, calling in to see dear friends for a cup of tea. Wonderful to be with, to catch up, to rejoice in. Then, negotiating motorways and traffic jams once more, we returned.

Phew.

Indulgent catch up...

This feels somewhat self-indulgent, sitting here, writing a bit on a blog when I really 'should be' doing a thousand and a half other things ...but it IS the first 'proper' day of half term. 'Proper' in that we whizzed off on the red-eye to Manchester the day after school finished and I spent yesterday recovering. It's Monday: the beginning of the 'week off': the day when I 'should' start my catch-up tasks. Hang on: that's what I'm doing right now. Catching up on the blog. That's fine, then.

I don't know what it is about teaching, why things go banana-crazy hectic in the last couple of weeks before half term, end of term, end of year... they just do.  Parents meetings - and the time-consuming follow up; grades, reports; Harvest Festival service, organising the decoration of the church and the subsequent 'Hedge Veg' Farmers Market; birthday cards and presents... and ICT course in the middle of all this.  I don't know how I managed all the work of the PSHE course last year...

But it has been great fun, and worth it.

Worth it to meet the parents, seeing their features reflected in those of the children I know so well; rejoicing with them at successes, considering how to best help them achieve all of which they are capable - to use a report-type phrase.

Worth it to see the joy in the children as they joined in with singing 'In the beginning, God made...', performing the actions as enthusiastically as at a disco; the pride on the face of the young soloist who struggles with reading and writing, yet filled the church with his sweet voice; the enthusiasm as the Year 6 children  'sold' the fruits and vegetables with more energy than that of an East End trader, shouting out their invented slogans: 'A melon for the price of a lemon' or 'Cheaper than Checkers' (the largest supermarket we have here).

Worth it to pray for the dear friends and relatives as I prepare cards and presents, thanking God for them: timely reminders to stop in the middle of busyness and be thankful.

This is not self-indulgent. This is worth it: appreciating, as I review the last two weeks of my life, what is of value.

Monday 11 October 2010

Autumn madness

Autumn has set in, with a vengeance. Our little island was lashed with gales and rain - horizontal at times.  'Showers' came out of nowhere, drenching within seconds. Then the sun leapt back before grey clouds whipped it aside again.  More rain. More wind.

Then The Weather relaxed, breathing warm and mildly again. The sun shone all day, a gentle breeze wafted, the midnight skies gleamed with stars as soft evenings beckoned us outside in the dark.

The tide overflowed onto the piers, with gentle yet inexorable power.

It was still autumn, yet we went swimming.The sea was warmer than a few weeks ago. The air, on wet skin, chilled flesh and bone.

Autumn madness.