Part One: Staycations are for Recharging the Battery and Delving into the Creative Arts

 I am celebrating and remembering two staycations--one in the summer of  2021 and the second this past summer of 2023. 

The writer masked during Class at 
Greenwich High School 

   Both were initiated by the corona virus and both had different outcomes. During the Greenwich High School academic year 2020-2021, I volunteered to be a full time co-teacher of AP Chemistry. The regular  teacher,  PHD certified,  was quarantined at home because her aged parents were staying with her and she didn't want to expose them to the virus. She zoomed classes from home.

 We didn't miss a single day, didn't log in a single absence and I was happy to fulfill an important role to make sure the students who signed up for the class would be able to attend. 

  The summer of 2021 was memorable for experiencing mental burnout and physical stagnation. It was marked by resignation to remediation. In other words, I stayed at home, did  low impact exercise at my club and devoted the summer to recharging my depleted battery. 

  The following summer, I was charged up with much energy. During this next academic year I was no longer a long term Chemistry substitute so I was able to teach in other departments and disciplines-- including Special Education, English, Social Studies, Languages and Music. And, of course, I was now able to work at my own pace, meaning I no longer had to 'punch  a time clock' and could take days off if so chose..... 

 That summer was glorious: I followed a dream that I have had  for so many years since living in California and hiking and backpacking the Sierras enjoying treks in to the wildernesses of the Alpine and Tuolumne Meadows, 

That's me Learning to Climb Mt. Hale
in the White Mountains led by a guide (summer 2022) 

 I trained during the year to build up my endurance to climb some mountains in the Presidential Range of the White Mountains. And what a blessing it was and is to be accompanied by a guide. (More on this experience on a later post).

 Nearly three and a half years after the onset of Covid, I tested positive, in the middle of Judy 2023.  Rather than be totally sidelined by the subsequent quarantine and staycation that ensued,  I dedicated myself to Literature and Arts that I will be proud to share in a subsequent post. So tune in to Part II.   

  

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