June Blooms

Seeds  for student writing.

“Write about what you love, about what you miss, and about what you notice.”

It’s mid June and I am missing my garden of peonies.
I am missing the end of the school year rush
where teachers and students have the finish line in sight and it’s a
mad dash to graduation. Where students shine,
parents beam and teachers breathe. I miss the excitement of
completed projects, art covering the walls
across all the halls, floor to ceiling
standing tall, and their faces, those proud,
happy sweaty, faces.
I miss the end of the school year
where we come together to celebrate all
our accomplishments as an invested community.
As teachers we inhale this beauty.
We savour our students’ successes.
We high five each other in the hallways and
happy dance outside.
We marvel at their growth,
reflect on the process, and
reassure our late bloomers.
We wonder how we got here
and exhale that we did.
Mid June is also when my peony garden, the one
I planted and moved away from is in full display.

It’s mid June and like every other month this year it has been one of unsettling uncertainty. We have seen so much violence, hate, fear and death. We have missed the closeness of friends, colleagues and family. I have spent too much time in the dirt, in the work and worry and long list of what needs to be done. What needs to change and how I can nudge the world a little to make it happen. When you dig into the earth and plant a bulb in the dark months of November, with only a long cold winter ahead- you need hope for it to bloom in June. Nature does that.  It is  patient, resilient, delicate, intricate and hopeful all at once.