Making the most of fall days...

I was sitting with Mark at Ft. Pulaski on Sunday, at the beach by the shipping channel. We brought beach chairs, drinks and sandwiches to enjoy after our walk. Each season in Savannah is pretty, and I'm enjoying the blue sky, the golden marsh grass, and the blue-gray of the ocean. The temp is near about perfect today - upper 60s with a breeze. The sun feels great on my face! Visibility on the water is so improved in the fall. I can see details on the neighboring islands you normally couldn't see in a summer haze. No ships or pilot boats have gone by today. A smaller shrimp boat came into the channel but then left for open water. The sound of the lapping water, and the quiet of nature, is hypnotizing. So far we've had this area to ourselves - no yelling kids, running dogs, etc. Yesterday we were on Tybee walking. Mark showed me where two "free" parking spaces are. I'll check there first from now on. The smell of the marsh and open salt air is so familiar and welcome. This is the best way I know to enjoy unemployment! If I'd kept the teaching job, I'd be mired in lesson plans and a "to do" list today. I feel foolish after all the rants about not getting a teaching job. We each have a finite number of days, and I want to look back on each one to say that I used my time wisely.

Retreat from misery to happiness...

I'm sitting on a large piece of driftwood (remnants of a tree, bleached smooth and white from the elements) at Fort Pulaski. I'm at the shipping channel. It's high tide, or close to it. The water is almost at my feet. Oops, a pilot boat went by, but no, the ship is leaving the channel, not entering. No water worries! A ship can force a foot or two of extra water to the channel edge. Actually, I do have to raise my feet for the waves generated by the pilot boat but oh well....

I'm thinking about the history this area has seen. Ft. Pulaski sits on Cockspur Island, where James Oglethorpe, founder of Savannah, and John Wesley, founder of Methodism, both landed. The Confederate fort fell to Union troops firing from Ft. Screven at nearby Tybee Island. So much misery in the mid 1800s...now today a beautiful wildlife refuge and historical monument.

I've gone from misery to happiness myself. I haven't posted in some time and that is because I applied for, and got, a public PreK teaching position in September. I worked all through August setting up the room. I left after two weeks with the kids. The stress of having 22 students from 8 to 4 with no break and only one very young, very inexperienced and sometimes rude helper, scads of state paperwork, county training obligations, and lots of school level battles was just too much for me. This fifty-something would rather be a lot poorer and have time to get outside and enjoy nature. I had almost 20 years as a teacher, and it is time to leave it at that. I'm now looking for any kind of retail, customer service, or food related job. Lesson learned - misery and money often go hand in hand, and the price tag is too high for me!

New challenges for the fall

Just when you think it will never happen...I received a call back on a pre-K teaching position I applied for, interviewed and accepted the job! This happened around my birthday - best present ever! I am sorting through little kid stuff, making displays, having fun!

My son starts college next week, and today is dorm move in day. It is just a 45 minute drive away though. My husband is going to help with the loading and unloading. It will be an adjustment. The house is going to feel very empty. Not that he was always around anyway!

I see there's one spot left on a post at present....Pelicans are so cool!

Here's a recent sunset from Tybee. I haven't seen any manatees yet this year; have seen lots of dolphin pods with plenty of little ones playing. This month the jellyfish are making it hard to stay in the water without pain, and the black flies make sitting on the beach uncomfortable as well...this too shall pass by September....

July - the heat is on!

Sunday morning I took a walk at Ft. Pulaski on Cockspur Island. I love all the canals and side trails!

My "reward" for walking 3 miles is a nice seat by the water! I would surely lose my sanity if I wasn't near a large body of water....

I love sunflowers! My hubby grew just a couple of the large ones - this one is about 9 feet tall. I loved that I caught a bee busy on it! My husband has gotten back into gardening more. Right now we are getting plenty of tomatoes. Earlier we had radishes and lettuce.

Cherished moments in June

I can't believe June 2011 is almost history! I am working thru my summer "to do" list. Hubby is teaching summer school, and my son is chilling after high school graduation. I took this pic of a dolphin during a local eco day cruise on Father's Day. I love these animals, and never get tired of seeing them! I have seen a manatee again at the Tybee north channel - wonder if it is the same one from last year? The other pic is an early sunset on the north channel - a favorite time and location for me.

I think the highest point of my parenting years, with the exception of birth, was seeing my son lead the procession for his high school as class valedictorian, and then giving his speech. He did an awesome job! It was a surreal experience - one I'll never forget!

Endings, beginnings, new discoveries

I was feeling out of sorts and out of balance this hot May morning, so I took off for a walk at Tybee. I've stayed fairly busy sub teaching, and the jobs are harder as the students get tired of school. So today I blew off any possiblility of working...I love the way the morning sun shines on the waves! This is one of my favorite views of the Tybee Lighthouse.

The first pic made my day, my month, my entire year! In all my days of trail walking in Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia, I have never seen a bobcat in the wild. Bears, yes, bobcats, no. Of course they are normally noctural. I've always seen scat, but that's it. Sunday at Fort Pulaski, near Tybee Island, my husband and I saw one at 9am, as our car passed by marsh and forest areas to get to the parking lot. What a rush!

I've been reading, off and on, a book by Dr. Henry Cloud on Necessary Endings, the employers, businesses, and relationships that all of us have to give up in order to move forward. I never really thought about it before, but to start a new challenge or relationship, you usually have to say goodbye to something.

My son graduates from high school in June. He was already dual enrolled full time at the local college. I am excited for him to be going back, this time with a dorm to end a rather aggravating commute. Definitely a big ending and beginning for him!

Still lots of gloom and doom on the educational front...more teachers layed off, less pay for those who stay. Looks like my husband's job is secure, but I am anticipating a third year of subbing instead of teaching. I love the freedom but sometimes I really miss not having my own students.

Climbing mountains....

I was climbing mountains during Easter break. The top two photos are from Crabtree Falls, Virginia, just off the Blue Ridge Parkway. This has been a favorite mountain hike of my family for generations. As a kid, I could climb the two miles up, view the falls, and make the two miles down, as an "after dinner" walk. I didn't make it to the top of Crabtree this spring, primarily because....I climbed Sharp Top Mountain, part of the Peaks of Otter, just off the Blue Ridge Parkway, the day before and some muscles were really sore! The curse of being a coastal Georgia flatlands hiker! The bottom two photos show the view from Sharp Top. There is nothing like standing on a mountaintop for clearing the mind and opening yourself to new challenges!