Buckets, Dreams and a riddle

There's a phenomenon that besets many of us who spend our lives educating. I woke up unintentionally very early last Monday morning, (  4 am ) and again at about 5:30 and  6:30. Each time it was with this nagging amorphous thought kicking vigorously  at my consciousness. It wasn’t specific but it was compelling and all about having to have something ready. I don't remember what that something was. I never do, in fact.   This isn't a new thing and I’m  only mentioning it here because, Carolyn,  your talk of going back to class reminded me. I’ve talked with others of our ilk and it’s a pretty common occurrence. For want of a better term I call it the "teacher dream" ( spectre might be  better ). 

It’s been  there since I became a teacher and wasn't any less prevalent whether the students were 9 years old or 19. The thing is, I haven’t been a teacher now for half a decade and I haven’t even set foot in a classroom in any kind of professional capacity for 3 years. Still, these  teacher dreams materialize like clockwork every summer's end and holiday’s end. I’m not sure I’m helpful mentioning this Carolyn, but I want it to be known that your back to school concerns are a widely shared experience. What is it about those of us who choose to spend our lives teaching that precipitates such stuff ??

Enough introspection .  Now, onward .... 

 I really never thought of assembling a full-tilt bucket list until a couple of years ago. Like anyone, I’ve itemized stuff I wanted to do, and it’s a list that's under constant “ site maintenance “. Some things that wouldn’t have killed me before might well do so now.

  I'll tell you one thing Carolyn -  zip-lining and indoor skydiving are SO NOT on that list!

I'm going to be doing one of those things soon on the Yucatan Peninsula. The Mayan ruins, like any from a prominent ancient civilization,  are genuinely awe-inspiring since they confirm that we here in the 21st century aren't quite as clever as we think, in the Arts and Sciences. We have more sophisticated tools to work with but much of what we do has been done, and sometimes more magnificently,  in the past. I got to spend one day at some sites last year but this time around there will be four weeks in and around Merida instead of one.   

Stuff on my current  bucket list includes getting to the third ocean that my home and native land has a shore upon - the Arctic. I also want to sail on all 5 Great Lakes in one week. My best friend and I hatched this plan a number of years ago ( possibly during a staff meeting ) and I'd like to see it through sometime. It's quite doable especially since three of them almost converge around the Straits of Mackinac. We just need to borrow the time and the easily trailer-able sailboat.



Anyhow more on this later perhaps or I'll be lost on a tangent and the Coast Guard will have to be called in. The riddles are up to bat now. 

The first one was a pencil - one of the original word processors. The drumstick bit came to me after catching David Letterman and Conan O'Brien in the same late evening. They do the one drumstick thing as does Jon Stewart on occasion. Many people, when they have a pencil in hand and nothing to write, resort to the rat-a-tat-tat. 


The second is a jar.

I fully comprehend and appreciate the lack of riddles this week and eagerly await when next they appear. Also, to free up a few more moments for getting things on the road in your daytime/paytime  world I'm gonna just leave  a single shortie riddle:

Fastening device for opposing digits

Bad boys best weapon for stern educators perch

**

So long for now.

Don