Henry David Thoreau
My school year comes to an end tomorrow.
It was my 27th. But my first full one during an epidemic.
So it has been a long year of (distance) learning. I taught my students the best I could over the Internet using Zoom (and Canvas). I was there day-in, day-out for my students as much as I could. Even in the darker moments of the pandemic, they always had my full attention. I was gratified to have many of them recognize that and thank me during the last week of school. Not an ideal year of teaching, but I did the best I could. “Control what you can control.” Then let the rest be.
Maybe next fall will be different. Better, I hope.
What about this summer? The Ventura beach? Hometown surf and sand?
Keep it simple, Richard. Back to the workouts. Hours of them every day. The bike. The pool. Tennis. A beer and conversation with friends after tennis. Books. Writing. Family. Music. A bit of travel. Lots of sun. Your body was created to be used, so make sure and use it. Try to be exhausted in body and mind when bedtime arrives. Sleep soundly. You will wake up the next morning refreshed — feeling strong and healthy.
Don’t complicate things.
Cut out all extraneous distractions. Pay the absolute minimum attention to politics or foreign affairs or COVID. It’s just noise.
Meet up with Jim Glantz and Keith Kauffman, if at all possible. Rick Roshan. It has been too long. Maybe Mike Bowan. “Go oft to the house of thy friend, for weeds choke the unused path,” wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson. How true.
Stay close to the bone. Focus only on what is most important.
Don’t get too far ahead of yourself.
Don’t get in your own way.
You know what to do.
Take it slow.
Day by day.
“This too shall pass.”
