Teachers often count time in quarters, as in one quarter of the school year. For us, the New Year starts in August. For most of my life, doctor and dentist and ophthalmologist appointments, haircuts, new clothes (and my birthday!) signaled the beginning of a new year. This year, August signaled the beginning of a whole new life for me.
The first quarter of the school year ended, more or less (waiting to see how the hurricane days play out with NCDPI!) on October 31. But today marks the end of my first three months living in Ocracoke. A quarter of a calendar year. I have had a birthday. Weathered a tropical storm, Hermine, with a shaking house and my first experience moving my car to “higher ground.” Evacuated for a hurricane, Matthew, coming back to flooded roads, water up to my fourth step, power outages, piles of debris.
I have come to love my school and the folks who work and learn there. To enjoy meeting and greeting students and their parents as I walk through the village. I embrace the limitations and the possibilities.
And the beauty, Oh, the beauty…!
bethdlayton 