I didn’t blog this summer…

A little bit was just difficulty writing. But mostly there were reasons. I’ll explain a little.

In July I went to the AFT Convention in Seattle as a delegate for the Professional Staff Congress. I wrote a little about it here and here and here. But it was very busy there, so I fell behind. And when I finally caught my breath, I wondered whether my role there, PSC delegate, and here, UFT blogger, might not need to be a little bit separate. So I decided not to write more.

After the convention I stuck around Seattle for a couple of days with two other UFT Chapter Leaders. One day we took a bus tour of Mount Rainier – spectacular. And the next two of us went for a good walk to Fremont, and then around to Gasworks Park, and then back downtown. Dinner, then we parted. A spent a long windy, sunsetty ferry ride thinking about whatever entered my head – Istanbul, new friends from the PSC, the rest of the summer, the next day.

The next day was an early morning train to Vancouver, and a few days there. First time for me. I loved it. A cousin I hadn’t seen in years showed me the town and some of the territory to the north. I walked and walked and walked. I made my way around the Stanley Park seawall, but not inside. I want to go back.

After a week at home, I was back off – ten days in Utah, of which seven mattered most: a dozen of us were going rafting and camping down the Green River, through Desolation Canyon. And when I got off the river, I was not inclined to write. The views, wildlife, river, all amazing. Rocks, petroglyphs, crystal clear daytime skies, storm skies bearing down on us, night skies with moon so bright it cast full shadows, before it rose the Milky Way glimmered. But this trip was too hard for me. The camping, the work, the carrying… The river beat me. I was humbled and humiliated. And worse, my own pride had sent me on the trip, overestimating my own abilities, and burdening my companions.  Later, I will share one story, and perhaps a photo or two. Later.

Another week at home, and then another trip. Destination: San Antonio, Texas. This was my third summer volunteering for an AFT local in the south. Eight of us, all New Yorkers, helped the San Antonio Alliance, a merged AFT/NEA local. Parts were fun. San Antonio was interesting. I liked that we met far more active teachers than the previous two years in New Orleans and East Texas. One Sunday a bunch of us went to Corpus Christi and Port Aransas.  I went twice to New Braunfels, and met the math blogger from “Math Tales from the Spring” and her family and friends.  I’ll write more about that. And maybe a little bit about San Antonio and what we did.

And then I came home. A day on the beach in Connecticut. Finished programming (one monster week, including 9 consecutive days through the Labor Day weekend), and school started. I have a little balancing of classes left, but here I am, new year started, summer passed by.