Mardi ~ Dienstag ~ Martedi ~ Martes ~ Tuesday

"Summer Vacation" The Prelude (1805)

Bright was the summer's noon when quickening steps
Followed each other till a dreary moor
Was crossed, a bare ridge clomb, upon whose top
Standing alone, as from a rampart's edge,
I overlooked the bed of Windermere,
Like a vast river, stretching in the sun.

—William Wordsworth (1770–1850)


It's been a wonderful summer thus far in bonny Scotland. Generous amounts of sun and temperatures of 70-75 almost every day for the past several weeks. Hay fever and allergies too, but we're managing.

And so now that it is summer, even though I recently found out that I AM certified and able to teach, summer holidays will preclude me from doing so. I have an extraordinary sense of bad timing, or it just wasn't meant to be. With school and the fall program starting soon, I probably won't have the time to teach now.

On a brighter note, I was asked to teach the Scottish Colloquium once again this fall, so I can stop worrying about how my US bills are going to get paid for a few more months. I am literally just making it month to month, which scares the crap out of me, but Tim is right when he says, the money always comes. I would just like to see it SEVERAL months in advance--I'm a worry wart damn it! Anyway, back to the course, naturally, I have begun to revamp what I did last spring and am quite excited about the new direction I am going to take the students. There will be 53 students, which is quite a relief, because the another 81 like last spring would have surely been overwhelming, considering I will be in school full time as well.

Tim's 35th birthday was bittersweet for him. Even though we had a lovely evening at our friend's Sandy and Victoria's home, it was also the day he found out about the Director's position, opening in June 2006, being given to someone else. Knowing how the process went and knowing how completely qualified, competent and utterly passionate he is about the importance and meaning of studying abroad and this program, the actions and decisions of the leadership team were a disgrace and shameful. However, we look on the bright side, and we know that we will be happy together and our careers will move on in other directions. Back to the birthday, Sandy cooked a delightful meal (it was his 45th birthday that day too!) and along with several other guests, we enjoyed a lovely dinner, some wine and some laughs to celebrate the for the birthday boys.

On a final good note, our July plans are to return to the states for a week long visit. Originally it was just too expense to spend our whole month's salary to get us back to Scotland from the US trip home we'd been planning. So, it was just going to be Tim returning and I'd take a wee trip to Spain to backpack. Well, in a fortuitous turn of events, some generous and gracious people in my life have afforded me the chance to join Tim and make it back to US and then back to Scotland, so I do thank them dearly, although I do not know who all was involved. Thank you, ever so much, your extreme kindness cannot be repaid in paper currency; it will however, be through love and friendship 'for the rest of mine'.