A New Challenge

In August, I agreed to substitute for a teacher who would be taking maternity leave at the end of January. At the time, I thought, “Sure! Sounds like fun!” And, even though it is fun, what on earth was I thinking? I have been substitute teaching for a day or two a week for the last year and have enjoyed myself immensely. What is better to a teacher than getting to know students without having to plan or grade papers? And I could pick and choose what days I would work. Welp, done with all of that until the end of March.

The person I am subbing for has left lesson plans and materials to use–which is fantastic. That definitely makes my life easier. What I wasn’t prepared for was the reconditioning of mind and body to being with teenagers 7 hours a day, five days a week. Friday night I felt like someone had drained all of my life forces and left me a husk of a person. I had conveniently forgotten that at the beginning of every school year there is a period of becoming conditioned to the demands of the classroom. Wow.

The good news is the students have been lovely (I hope I haven’t jinxed myself by saying that), the other teachers are glad to see me, and I am teaching a subject that is fairly closely related to my normal area. Another positive is that a check of the school calendar shows that only four of the eight sub weeks are full weeks. There are some days off for winter break, girls and boys state basketball, and a couple of professional days. I can do this. It’s all in the attitude.

The person I am subbing for has a beautiful baby girl, and I really, truly am happy I can give her time to learn all about her daughter. But, warning, if someone asks you to do a long-term sub, give it more serious thought than I did. The money is pretty good, but be certain you are ready for a huge change to your retirement schedule!

I might rather be here than in the classroom. Ah, memories of warm, sunny Sitges, Spain. Tickets to Europe are cheaper in January, February, and March. I will remember that if someone asks me to do this long-term sub gig again.

Frederik Backman Novels

Swedish author Fredrik Backman has become one of my favorites. This young-ish (37) author conveys so much about the very real struggles of being human that it seems he is wise and experienced beyond his years. My introduction to Backman’s work was A Man Called Öve, which my husband and I listened to on a trip to Minnesota. We found ourselves laughing at loud at the inept attempts of this grieving widower to end his life so he could join his wife in death. Yes, we laughed. We also shed a few tears as Öve finds new meaning in his life through his interactions with his neighbors. Only a skillful wordsmith could create such humor from this depressing situation. We loved it.

I next read Britt-Marie Was Here, another tale of a woman who has been devalued by her husband finding new life and purpose. The characters are well-drawn and treated affectionately by the author. My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry takes us along with a young girl who is tasked by her dying grandmother to go talk with people in the grandmother’s past. The grandmother, who is difficult and independent, has had contentious relationships with many of those who shared her life. As the girl interacts with these people, she discovers the woman her grandmother was, and she herself learns how to navigate the world. Once again, the characters are engaging and memorable. The individual stories in these two novels reaffirm one of my friends’ favorite maxims: Everyone is having struggles that we aren’t aware of. But in addition, it reaffirms that each of us is part of a complex web of actions and interactions, and we really can’t foresee how that web of relationships will play out.

Backman’s latest efforts, Beartown and its sequel Us Against You, are my favorites, even though they are darker with much less humor. I really wish I had a group of teenagers with who to read and discuss these novels. In fact, I have recommended them to my former colleagues who are still teaching high school. There are so many topics in these novels that touch on facets of life that teens face every day: rape, parental expectations, immigration,friendship, alcoholism, bullying, sports, death, fear of failure, coming out. Many reviews of the novel compare it to Friday Night Lights in terms of its examination of the effects of high school sports on a community. Beartown explores the more immediate reactions of a small town, whose fame and future is based on its hockey team, when the daughter of the general manager of the hockey team is raped by the star hockey player. Sides are taken and lines are drawn in the high school and in the community. Into this conflict throw a rivalry with the neighboring town and its hockey team. Us Against You examines the more long-term consequences of the actions in the previous novel and shows us both the damage done to the characters but also the strength that some of them show in their attempts to heal. This is a powerful pair of novels. The novels have been optioned for a tv series.

Leonardo’s Shadow

Leonardo’s Shadow: Or, My Astonishing Life as Leonardo da Vinci’s Servant by Christopher Grey

This fascinating historical novel was one of the ALA Best Books for Young Adults for 2008, but don’t let that label fool you—it’s also an enjoyable book for adults.

The narrator is 15-year-old Giacomo, an orphan who was rescued by da Vinci when the boy was a small child. Giacomo wants two things very much: to know who his parents were and to have da Vinci teach him to paint. Neither thing seems likely for Giacomo because he is caught up in da Vinci’s financial problems. The Duke of Milan has promised da Vinci a huge sum of money for painting a picture of the Last Supper on the wall of the church where the Duke’s wife is buried. The problem? The Duke has given da Vinci no money. Without the money, da Vinci won’t paint—it’s a conundrum, one that Giacomo helps solve.

Throughout the novel, the author weaves in historical information about life in 15th-century Milan, its politics, and how people lived. He also uses information that da Vinci left in his notes to tell the story of da Vinci’s flying machine and why there is no record of him ever trying to see if it would fly.

Giacomo’s story is fictional, of course, except that da Vinci refers to Giacomo in his notes—Grey has used that as a jumping-off point for this coming-of-age story. Giacomo, a clever young man, finds ways to improve his life, all the while taking care of da Vinci despite the painter’s prickly manner and apparent unconcern for the well-being of his home and servants.

I was quite taken with this novel and the story of the painting of a masterpiece—and the explanation of why the painting has not survived the centuries in its original condition. Young people or adults who like art or history will enjoy this novel.

Beginning March 1, 2019, you can go to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science to see the traveling exhibit entitled: Leonardo Da Vinci: 500 Years of Genius. Quoting from the 303 website: “Through high-definition motion graphics and surround sound, combined with authentic photography and video footage, the Leonardo da Vinci will also provide a cinematic experience will provide a breathtaking display of his codices, computer-generated imagery and art. Guests can even test a da Vinci-inspired catapult and create their own codex page with a self-portrait or still life. The Museum’s historical enactors will also be on hand, to present characters who bring a personal perspective to the story of Leonardo.” The exhibit runs through August 25, 2019. It’s on my list of things to do. Member tickets to the show are now on sale on the museum’s website.

A Promise to Myself

Deep breath. Begin.

“You’re always you, and that don’t change, and you’re always changing, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
― Neil Gaiman, The Graveyard Book

When I retired in May, 2017, after 38 years of teaching high school English, I told myself I would start a blog about books, travel, baking, movies–basically all of those things I was going to spend my time doing. But, let’s check the date for this first blog post. Yep, January 2, 2019. Not exactly accomplishing my goal in a timely manner. Take away the constraints of bells dividing my days into segments, telling me which students I would be with, when I could eat lunch, and when I could go to the bathroom, and I fell into my own sort of schedule–one that did not include any sort of writing except for posts on social media.

So, after years of telling students that they needed to write in order to truly understand the world around them, I have decided to take my own advice as I navigate the world and attempt to figure out the changes wrought by retirement and (dare I admit it) by ageing. If I some of you join me on the journey, I am delighted.