Cancellation Dance

School's OUT for SUMMAH!

I taught my last lesson of the term today and promptly proceeded to engage in the sacred ritual known as "The-removal-of-the-lesson-schedule-from-bulletin-board". All signs of the semester have been purged from public view, at least outside my studio door...wow, I just breathed in the world's deepest breath typing that sentence.

It has been a long and trying term. We had record enrollment this year which impacted every corner of the Music School. Let me just say, I have the most amazing students, but too much of a good thing can be good for nothin' (to quote my grandma). Attrition and a smaller than expected class for the coming fall means I'll actually have a manageable teaching load for the first time in a while. I often say it's not the number of hours I'm expected to teach, it's the number of personalities I have to keep track of that's the real brain drain. My work is so much more than just teaching someone how to hold their bow and play in tune. It's about discovering a student's learning style, tailoring an individual curriculum for them, finding out what motivates them deeply and tracking their progress. It's also about teaching them to teach themselves, easing them on and off stage, nurturing and sometimes massaging their fragile egos and more often than not, it's about simply taking care of them. Phew - no wonder I'm tired. I'm really looking forward to the summer and I really need a major break from teaching but the truth is, I really do love my work. Next year I'll celebrate 20 years at the college and 28 total years in higher ed. I'm really beginning to ponder the next chapter.

"Cancellation dance" in case you're wondering, refers to that private dance I do in my studio after a sudden lesson cancellation makes a little window of free time in my day. Summer is the biggest cancellation dance of them all - let the dancing begin!

Here's a look at the garden this week

The Johnny Jump Up volunteers are everywhere this year

Wish you could smell this

Solomon's seal

Wild violets in the lawn

I'm so glad to see our ecosystem is thriving!
I'm still not ready to pick this guy up and snuggle him though...

Thank goodness for a decent zoom lens!