Normally, on Wednesdays, I write about humorous events or impactful news stories, but I am a bit lost, today.
Maybe, it’s the hangover from the holidays. Maybe, it’s the weather. Maybe, it’s just feeling lonely and adrift.
I hate being maudlin, but even clowns feel down. I have often used my humor to romanticize or soften the world, but, at times, the world still kicks your ass. Vernon Law once said, “Life is a tough teacher as it gives the tests first and the lessons afterward.”
Dew on the Lily
My first summer in SC was wonderful. I was walking on the beach, exploring new restaurants, and paying my bills as an afterthought. It was truly an extended vacation and a precursor to full retirement.
I was cast in a play, wrote every day, and The Strand was rife with people and their energy. We indulged in the amenities of our community, and we embraced the slower way of life.
The fall went well. I was working to sell insurance, subbing in schools, and enjoying my new friends in the theater community. My play ended the first week of November, and I did not feel the stereotypical “letdown.” I geared up for the holidays and immersed myself in being a football fan. Yes, I still watch it, although I can guarantee it’s rigged.
The holidays were definitely different, but we made the best of them. Many of my irons in the fire cooled, but now, I am struggling to warm them.
Dew Off
I have accepted a job as a girls’ lacrosse coach, and I continue to work in the schools; however, most of my other endeavors have stalled, so I am back doing what I was doing, just in a different location. The grind has returned, but without a common, set routine.
One school system is off for another week, and the other is in the advent of exams. There are few jobs, and I have little energy. As many of you know, we are a year ahead of schedule in this Southern phase; we have also determined that we need to buy in the near future, which has added some more strain.
Why Buy?
Interest rates are decreasing, and the writing on the wall is that people are heading south in droves. We live with little of our own stuff, little feng shui, and pay to keep our belongings in storage. New developments are springing up, but many of them are inflated in price.
Buy, Bye.
All of that said, it behooves us to try to buy before the summer rush and before more people discover this little town. We are trying, but the process has been amped up, and it is trying. We were in the second wave of the vanguard, but we are still feeling the press of time. Hoping for some clarity in the next couple of weeks.
Old Acquintances
On New Year’s Day, I was steeled by the fact that I did not have to invigorate myself to return to school with exams, course selections, planning and the general malaise of the students weighing on me. Quite the relief.
Unfortunately, I also felt a sincere loss of community. I am no longer a teacher at GHS. I am no longer rehearsing a show. I am a part of a snowbird residential community where absence seems to be the norm.
I do not miss the classroom or Connecticut, but I miss the connections, and the possibility of more. I miss congregation and familiar smiles.
I realize that I am at my worst when I have too much time on my hands, as I spend too much time in my head. I also thrive on looking forward to new experiences as familiarity starts to breed contempt.
My brother has already booked a trip to visit, and my mother and Aunt Ann are planning on coming as well. We are attending our first live concert in Myrtle Beach in February, and I won a bet, so Eileen has to take me to the wax museum, a favorite attraction from my childhood. We also could be moving, again.
Today, and for the immediate future, I resolve to give myself a break, and much like many recent decisions, to follow my heart, gut and head—in equal measure.
I am a bit lost and a bit lonely, but this too shall pass.
Love and laughter,
P.