#working summer

[Still, remember that the same Joe E. Brown-inspired voice was used by Daws Butler for both Lippy the Lion and Peter Potamus, requiring an especially sharp ear to discern the two]

PETER POTAMUS, ever the curious sort: So, Lippy, as one of my better sort of divers, what do you have in mind for your summer's dive instructor jaunt?

LIPPY THE LION: This may sound unusual, Peter, but over the summer, I plan to offer taster dives and dive instruction to the deserving on a circuit of old-school resorts up around the Nisswa Lakes region.

PETER POTAMUS: Up in northern Minnesota, I take it.

LIPPY THE LION: Where else, Peter? Besides, the idea of taking my routine, as it were, to different resorts over the season affords some interesting opportunities to meet some new tourists and acquaint them with the rather interesting activity of diving underwater!

PETER POTAMUS: I wish you much luck on that endeavour, Lippy ... and if you come across my cousin Penelope Potamus, tell her hi for me.

LIPPY THE LION, stunend: You mean your cousin Penelope, the teen dive instructress?

PETER POTAMUS: None other than, Lippy! She's trying to line up some dive-instruction gigs up by the Brainerd Lakes over the summer, and is talking to a dive shop or two up that way to serve as summer instructress!

LIPPY THE LION: Wish her luck on behalf of Lippy, come to think of it!

In the blazing summer sun the budding romance grew voraciously, making the clash of coffee cups and the hiss of steam in the coffee shop part of a distant reality. The tortured artist and the young student were thrown together in the slender space next to the coffee machine while customers narrowed their eyes at the playful glances, lingering touches and exaggerated laughs.

Three weeks of dinners with bottles of wine, where waiters would ask them to leave having tutted and swept around their feet, led to a trip to Paris on the Eurostar being booked. Caution was thrown to the wind and any misgivings were buried deep under bouquets of flowers.

Paris was crowded with out of towners, the air was warm and the city was seen through their dewy eyes, in a haze. The stress of an alien city didn’t exist; they were never lost, just wandering. They decided that they weren’t ripped off, but paid over the odds and the rubberised fish in a late night supper was narrated as an experience, rather than a failure. The small shops were stuffed with souvenirs which seemed made just for them as the trinkets told their story so succinctly.  

The return to their home town and cooler evenings was when the romance began to slow, but they continued to hold hands and experimented with less extravagant romance, staying in and attempting daring recipes in a grubby shared kitchen. As summer faded one began to construct plans for the future while the other wanted to carve out time to work on a project alone.

So, I am working full time in a daycare for the summer.  I am starting week 4 right now, and I can’t believe this month has gone so fast!  I work 8-5 when my usual hours are 6:45-2:40 during the school year.  Gotta say I appreciate the school year when I get off before business hours end!  However, I have an hour off on my own for lunch, which is also nice!  Not paid, of course, but that really doesn’t matte since I need that break.  The kids also sleep from about 12:15-2:30.  And I am in charge of waking them up, so I don’t always hurry at the 2:30 part, but we are usually outside by 3:00 after having an after nap snack. But anyway, these are mostly kids who have completed K and are heading to 1.  A few are older 4 year olds who will be 5 soon and heading into K.  I am having a really really good time with these kids!  My heavy days have 10 kids showing up, but many days I am  between 6 and 8 kids.  I am not hitting the academics hard, but as a 2nd grade teacher, I feel obligated to do some work with them, but I try to keep it simple and subtle.  Most of them are thrilled to show me what they can do, but there are also a couple of NOT GONNA DO IT kids.  They are awesome at puzzles and I have bought a total of 6 new puzzles between Tuesday morning and goodwill since I started there.  We do the same puzzles over and over.  The boys love legos and TMNT of course.  We do blocks (and I have mixed in STEM with bridge building challenge the other day.) 

Anyway, overall this is a rewarding experience for me.  Of course there are days I’m like “why am i doing this?  I could be asleep!” But then I remember all the summers I CAN’T sleep at night bc I sleep a lot during the day. And I feel like a slug.  This is good for me.  Staying on a schedule, earning money (payday was awesome!) and being able to play more with the kids than worry about keeping their attention to do formal (standards based) teaching.  Life is good this summer.