Entering the December Season of Tranquil Lights by the Tree and a Dog Who Seems to Chill with the Season Like I Do

For those of us in literacy who present at national conferences, only to return to the hectic nature of turkey opportunities, I always welcome the addition of lights and evenings (that are much darker, much sooner) on Mt. Pleasant. For the past week I've enjoyed evenings with Chitunga, Alyssa, and Karal, and soon after the departures, it will be me, the dog, and the tree. I need such peace in my life as last classes are taught, end-of-the-semester, frenzied meetings are the norm, and all those projects come in for grading. 

I know others enjoy similar traditions.

I will be teaching the last YA Literature class tonight and will follow with the last Explorations class later this week. I know the close-to-the-end return home for many, brought them back to the reality that so much is due rather quickly. The organized and planned have worked on this to relieve the stress. Those who are last minute, have a trickier time contending with the stress of it all. As a student, I was not a fan of such stress so I paced myself accordingly. I realize as a teacher, though, that is not the norm as procrastination and the road to good intentions are much more common.

I am thinking of all laboring to get in the work at this time of the year and my fellow academics biting their nails that the turn-around for grades comes quickly. 

This is why we need our lights, holiday music, a good bottle of bourbon, and the ability to inhale/exhale, because this too shall pass.

There are times I wish I had it as easy as Karal. She lives a very embattled life, indeed.