Spring calculations

I am a week away from posting grades for another semester. A final exam usually doesn’t torpedo a student who has done well throughout the semester, nor will it save the G.P.A. of one who did diddly-squat for fifteen weeks.  And so, a week from now, I’ll let my computer do the grade calculations and click “Save” and my students will get what they get. For some, there will be celebration and sighs of relief. For others, there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. That’s just how it goes.

In terms of weather in Minnesota, April earned an F in my book. She was a complete no-show. I went looking, and found her in Sacramento. I spent two days there for a conference, and then two more days in San Francisco where the birds sang, the sea lions lounged at the pier, and roses were in full bloom all over the city. After months of looking at nothing but snow and more snow, it felt great to be able to walk around in a sweater and sandals. I highly recommend it.

My daughter was my traveling companion. My legs are at least a foot longer than hers and yet, I sometimes struggled to keep up with her as we went from Chinatown to Fisherman’s Wharf to the Golden Gate Bridge. She’s a competent, capable, traveler and an incredibly patient soul when it comes to her mother, who isn’t nearly as young as she used to be. Funny how things like that sneak up on a mom. One minute, you’re the one making all the arrangements and packing snacks to take on the airplane so your kids don’t lose their minds, and the next, your twenty-something daughter is asking you if you’d like a granola bar and trying to distract you during turbulence because she knows you are afraid of flying. It appears we’ve come full circle, she and I.

I’m home now. The foot of snow that was in the yard a week ago is gone, and I have only had to put my down jacket on once since I got back. So…progress. Yesterday, I heard the spring peepers in the pond up the road. The fat little sea lion…er….beagle with the floppy ears is sunning herself in the porch. Life is good.

And, to top it off, May is here. I have high hopes for May.

I think May is going to knock it out of the park.