Back in Alaska

There will be no pictures on this one... sorry. I am currently sitting in College Coffee House in Fairbanks with an empty coffee cup staring me in the face. This will therefore need to be a quick post as I need to remedy that and I can see the countdown clock on my internet time ticking away below this window.

My time in Washington State was so very worthwhile. For those that do not know and think I had finally just gone nuts from swinging a hammer all summer, I was sent down for a College Board Advanced Placement training for AP Literature. It was by far the best inservice I had ever attended.

There have been some programs in my distant teaching past (some programs that still exist in some places) that I won't mention, that felt like I was sitting through a four day sales pitch. I would hate to burn a bridge that I may have to cross some day and so that is all I will say on that. With the sales pitch idea in mind, AP was such a breath of fresh air.

The week was broken up into teachable lessons and units as well as what our kids should expect upon taking the test. Everyone in my session was very focussed and it was just such a joy to sit and talk literature. How many people out there really get excited about breaking down a Shakespearean Sonnet, or get a kick out of text to text connections between the song Hurt and the book of Ecclesiastes?

Then, you add in the fact that I was sleeping in a comfortable bed every night rather than a classroom floor (only in AK) and it just gets that much better. However, I could not help but miss home and am so ready to be back there. Is it truly possible to feel the boarder when you cross back into Alaska? Why did I get this smile on my face that only got bigger the closer I got to home and my family?

One more day of Fairbanks and some vehicle maintenance and I'll be back home... happily hugging my family and again picking up a hammer and heading back to work. I don't think I really need anything more than that in my life. God has been so good.

Oh, and Dad, since I am sure you are curious, the truck is running amazingly with new plugs and the manifold. It didn't even have to work to get up and down the hills on the way to Nenana.
God bless... Jason