Sun Today

Sun today. And rain. That makes rainbows.

Hmm, kind of like life. Kind of amazing that we can handle it all. Sometimes it seems too much. That’s why I’m not doing extreme yoga right now: I’ve pulled back from the edge. I’m really happy in the valley these days, or on the top of small mountains, the kind we have in Victoria.

Secundo is home sick today. He had a fever last night, and some kind of bilious oral eruption. After he heaved a pile of bubbly bitter mess into my hand at midnight, he sat back and looked at it. “Puke,” I said. “Vomit. Spit up.” Ever the mother, always teaching.

Which is an epiphany for me. Last week I had lunch with a friend who started her current career trajectory at the age of 40. Before becoming a nurse, she was a lighthouse keeper, circumnavigated Vancouver Island in a kayak, was MEC’s first seamstress. Thirteen years after taking her first course at a community college, she’s teaching Nursing at UVic. “Why don’t you go back to university, get your Bachelor of Education, and teach kids,” she suggested. “Age and gender are not an issue in this career, experience counts for something when teaching,” she pointed out. “And best of all,” she paused, and laughed. “You love kids. You can’t fake that.”

For about thirty seconds I remained cold, the no’s came first: I can’t be confined to a classroom, they’d never hire me at this age, Teenagers, ugh. And then my toes got warm, and heat moved upward through my whole body: I do love kids. I mean, I respect them, individually. I remember being a kid. I’ve never really grown up – I’m working at it... I have many skills and passions to bring them -- French, music, yoga, writing. I loved school when I was a kid, excelled at it. I loved my teachers. Many of them impacted me in life changing ways. Wow. Even the thought of going back to university excites me.

So, I begin the process of application.

This doesn’t mean I don’t write the books that are currently being conceived. It means I do it all. At a pace that allows me to mother, and to be a human being. And, best of all, to work toward a career that will reward me with credentials, recognition, admittedly, full days, and also a salary that reflects the intelligent, dedicated, compassionate person I have become.