Deb: I think I have said
before in the blog that New Year’s Eve never feels like a new year to me. The
day after Labour Day is always my New Year’s Day. I think many of us feel this
way. We have been conditioned through the years to retain those back to school
butterflies that mean new opportunities, second, third, and forth chances to
get it right, and adventure. I’ve long since stopped buying binders and three-hole
paper, pencil crayons and protractors (yes I am THAT old), but the feeling of
“new” never leaves me.
At this transitional time
when the days remain warm and the nights cool down it takes me back to that
time of learning. Would that I had craved learning when it was my brain sponge
time, when every fact was soaked up and stored in my spongie brain locker! I
wish I had yearned every day as I do now, to discover something new. I could
insert “youth is wasted on the young” right now, but I won’t. I did of course
have my passions—does Mad magazine
count? But I wasn’t hungry for it like I am now.
So this year, as Labour Day
(boy’s birthday) came and went and my butterflies returned, my mind was right
in the pocket of the learning space. I was craving the classes, yearning for
the learn. So although I did not go back to school per se, I did start to work
on a children’s book, started ukulele classes, and am going to try to learn to
ride a horse.
But more fulfilling than
my individual pursuits is the fact that our house is the hall of learning right
now. The whole house feels so creative and I am loving the forward vibes I am
feeling every day. As you all know, the boy and his girl moved in with us and
it is perfect and fun. She is in school, steeped in the world of academia that
I always craved but never had. Watching her head out to the ivy-covered walls
of U of T every day puts me in mind of Love Story and the ivy-covered walls of
Harvard. The girl reminds me of Jenny Cavilleri in her cute little put-together
outfits, her arms full of books. I sooooo wanted to be Jenny in that movie!
More specifically, I wanted to be the beautiful student and musician Jenny, not
the dying Jenny!
The boy, for his part, is
working on resumés, while gathering his list of connections to reach out to,
and formulating film ideas. They are at the beginning of their careers and it
is so wonderful to see and be a part of it. My husband just finished his final
edit of his book, his creative end to a year of work.
And not to be outdone,
our dog, the Bairn, is in school too . We are training her and shaping her into
the easy dog about town we want her to be and she is an excellent student. So I
am teacher and student. In lieu of an apple she gives me a constantly wagging
tail. School’s in session here in the Mochrie McGrath house.
And the miracle is,
unlike high school, I don’t want to skip.
Barbara: It’s funny, even
though I remember myself being pretty studious and into school, when I look
back at that youthful time, I really feel like I wasted it, spending more time
thinking about getting certain grades than actually listening to the lessons in the lessons. Since as an adult I’ve
discovered the error of my ways, I love love LOVE to be in a classroom
environment and to be learning. Another funny thing, without realizing you’ve
been signing up for lessons here and there, Deb, I’m also looking into signing
up for some. Not sure if I’m too late for this semester, but am crossing my
fingers the little school house has room for one more open mind.
