Day 124

I don't know who she is but her expression is so serene, especially considering how long you had to sit still for in order to take these early photographs.  Maybe she is bored stiff and just about to faint from boredom, or fall asleep right there standing up!.  I saw her in the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), in New York a year ago, on a lovely trip with my 9th grade class.

I felt fragile all day.  I have a long free time at school on a Tuesday, so I went to visit my friend Mary, who is very dear to me.  She told me of her adventures in France on a recent trip, and "some adventures turned into disasters", which made for funny stories, but were not the least bit amusing at the time. 

I told her of my upheaval last night and she listened and gave me wise advice.  She thinks very carefully about things like that and has mastered her own demons.  Whereas clearly my demons are still in the process of being mastered.

And my good husband phoned me too, in the middle of the day, to tell me that he understands me and I am ok, that sometimes it is good for children to see raw emotions like that, to know their mother is capable of such strong feeling, and that afterwards everything is alright.  We all come through, we tumble out on the other side, a little the worse for wear but unbroken, stronger. 

My last class of the day is the 6th grade class that other teachers find the most difficult, but I love them all to bits, they are the sweetest, most intelligent, eager students.  Many of the boys all still quite short, most only being 11 or 12 years old.  I sat at a table of two boys who are good friends, to do my homework grading.  Every now and then I had to get up to help someone, or to check on another group. 

At one stage I came back to the table to a heated discussion with a boy at the next table, everyone standing up to make their points from a loftier position!  It was all about global warming, the future, etc.  And when I had settled everyone back down, the one boy started talking to his friend, carrying on the conversation, saying "I think we should go back to nature, we are just going to kill the planet with everything we do, we have to be in touch with the land".  And the other replied, "Yes, it's the only way, we must love Nature."  Which was wonderful to hear, this next multi-cultural generation (the two boys are of Russian and French descent), which is inheriting the mess of today, has a positive attitude, has my attitude to nature, for heaven's sake! :-)  So I beamed at them and said, "I am so happy to hear that - I love you guys!" whereupon the first little guy sticks out his palm like a flag to high-five me, and the other one follows suit!  So sweet. 

So here is my portrait of the Earth.  You can see my body reflected in the glass of both the images for today.