A Teacher's Summer Day
(Personal Essay)
Brad's
Weekly Feature
Chunks of fern fly around my head. The weed
eater I wield bumps along through the heavy brush. Ah, a
teacher’s summer day on an island, indeed.
This summer I’ve been fortunate to spend
time on an island in the gulf between Vancouver Island and the
mainland of British Columbia. Mostly rural, the island is
dotted with large acreages, small businesses (potters,
gardeners, organic farmers), and few people. My brother, after
riding the island from end to end on his bicycle, told me that
there are about 40 kilometers of paved roads. It is here I
have found my summer paradise.
In the morning, the quiet of the house is
unbroken. Teenagers sleep in and even the adults stay a while
in bed, reading a novel or just enjoying the view of firs
swaying gently in the morning breeze. First up makes the
coffee, or takes a stroll down the road to a nearby farm to
buy a dozen eggs. Even my dog is quieter there, rarely barking
out.
Breakfast lasts for hours— first the early
risers, then the later ones, and finally the children come to
the kitchen. Sometimes, an adult makes pancakes, slathered in
maple and blackberry syrup, washed down with coffee. On other
days, the smell of fried bacon fills the room, and eggs—sunny
side or over easy—sizzle in the pan.
Then comes work. No summer house is ever
fully complete, so the sounds of hammers and saws often fill
the air. This summer I was the weed eater man, using a huge
gas-powered weed trimmer, and was often covered with bits of
grass and fern from head to toe. Work provides a rhythm to the
day, until lunch comes and all meet again to chat away time in
the kitchen.
Swimming ends the afternoon on sunny, hot
summer days. Floating pleasantly on my back, I look up at the
pair of bald eagles making lazy swings above me, and see only
trees and sky in this protected little lake. On the dock, I
often while away time chatting to other swimmers, drying in
the sun on the dock.
Dinner is a cooperative affair: the children
set tables and do dishes; the adults show off their cooking or
help in any way they can. The food is delicious, basic, and
fresh. Garden beans steamed in a large pot, fresh raspberry
pie and ice cream, grilled chicken hot off the barbecue, all
are relished by as many as 14 of us seated around the table at
night.
In bed early, as a rule, tired from the
day’s exertions, we fall into a deep sleep, aided by the
silence of the woods surrounding the house. Soon, the only
sound is deep breathing and so, a teacher’s summer day is
complete.
Try a
Vocabulary Quiz
featuring words from this Weekly Feature
Visit Last Week's Feature:
Happy Summer Holidays
Visit our 