Sunday, May 08, 2011

Spring Pleasures

This has been the most beautiful spring I can remember. The harsh winter of 2010-11 seems a distant memory now that we have basked through the warmest April on record, and the longest Easter holiday anyone here can remember.

The Lent term was long and busy. The snow melted only just before the start of term, and the dark mornings and evenings made school life feel like a troglodyte existence. Up each morning before sunrise, and walking home long, long after nightfall, I found last term businesslike and fruitful. There was little time for leisure, and even my birthday passed with just a breakfast visitor to mark the event.

But there were a few opportunities for fun. One such was our family Epiphany gathering. All but foster daughter number two made it despite the snowy conditions, and penultimate son's girlfriend also came along, so seven of us sat down to venison and all the trimmings. Later, during half-term, I had trip to London to go to the theatre with daughter number
one for a rather odd but enjoyable show about shoes (and I missed the last train home because we were having such a pleasant time at the pub afterwards!) As the weather warmed up, it became possible to walk a friend's dogs by the canal and spend lengthening evenings in the garden writing lesson plans.

The holiday has brought many pleasures. The Society for the Study of Theology Annual Conference in York was both academically invaluable, but also socially pleasant. The chance to catch up with people I have worked with in the past, and to meet new people who are so interesting, made this feel far more like fun than a professional necessity. Here at home, I've read books for pleasure, done Guardian crosswords, cooked and played the piano (this last I do very badly). I've touched base with all the offspring, visited my Dad and enjoyed whole days when I haven't spoken to a soul. If that sounds odd, bear in mind that I am a classic introvert who needs time alone to recharge the batteries. I feel well and truly recharged.

My beautiful car has been a joy. The passenger door was dented by someone who lost control in the snow - and didn't have the decency to stop - but it was eventually repaired just as the weather improved, and I've had it out with the roof down at every opportunity. Over the Easter holiday, trips to York(twice), Leeds and Sheffield provided enough exposure to the sun for me to burn my nose and tan my arms. My favourite Sunday chore is to spend a couple of hours washing it and then waxing it to a piercing shine, before taking it out for a spin to dazzle those bumbling along Oxfordshire lanes in their dull Audis and BMWs.

Alas, lover has been as busy as I recently, and we have only managed the odd day here and there until this weekend. But things are settling down now, and there's the prospect of a city break on the horizon and a few days away together in the summer holiday. If that seems a long way yet, I remind myself that we're already a week into a term of just eight weeks, and between now and then I have plenty to occupy my mind and energy. With GCSE and A levels, school exams, and university entrance advice at work, and exam marking at home, I'll be lucky to have any time to myself.

Perhaps the best thing of all is that I still love everything about being where I am now. The work is both challenging and satisfying, and now that I have been here long enough to know what I'm doing, it's less stressful and more fun than I ever imagined it could be. I can see this being a very good summer indeed.

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