about time

As hilarious as it seems, walking to work is no laughing matter. Bundling up is a kin to suiting up for a space walk. Every seal must be checked and rechecked, tucked and retucked. The only difference, really, between my commute and an astronaut's repair of the Canadarm is that I am actually slowly dying as I walk. Firemen edge me out only by a percentile hair when it comes to putting one's life on the line. The tenacious zip-zip of wind breaking pants is a shout of hope and survival during the length of the Green Mile while passing fellow comrades: pedestrians. Even though the viscosity of our blood has thickened like toothpaste, spoken salutation tends to raise morale. Only a "Good morning" can be squeaked out between strained breaths which keep our scarf-covered mouths warm. We are but survivors treading through our last energies until our destinations arrive. Tearing the constrains of frozen eyelashes with every blink is a true act of either severe naivety or extreme defiance to the Elements. Never tell me the former. Unfortunately for my students, they receive a spittle-ridden reprise of the previous twenty minutes if they dare suggest a tone of "about time" when I unlock the door.

I have fought and I have wrestled with the idea of having a senior high-level art class. It has stood there, like an ominous, red-eyed, Sasquatch peering into a living room window, only to startle and cajole me into panicky whispered -yet rapid- prayers, "what am I doing here?" "why is this happening to me?" "Lord, smite this Happening." This is what I had requested, and had indeed been the reason they hired me, but I drove the beast like an 8 year-old in a stolen minivan, lurching and skidding with neck-whipping regularity. I feel more at ease, at last, and am now revving the full potential of these minds, but there are but two weeks left of classes. Looking back, as I attempt to plan an impromptu gallery of their work, they have done some marvelous art. I'm proud of their accomplishments. They have wrestled and have had their hips wonderfully dislocated.