Summer Shifts

Two weeks ago, I was sipping coffee in Arkansas, almost to Oklahoma.  A week ago, I was getting ready to head south to Columbia, SC.  This morning, I'll be entering fall dates into syllabi for my online classes, as required because of recent Florida laws about citizen access and the possibility of problematic content.  In a way, it's fine.  The work needs to be done at some point, but it is awfully early to be thinking about classes that start in August and September.

My seminary class that I'm taking this summer starts tomorrow, and the summer online classes that I teach start next week.  My schedule will still feel leisurely compared to the school year, but I do feel a shift underway.

July will get even busier, with more involvement in Lutheridge:  Music Week in early July, my leading middle schoolers through Bible study in mid-July, and mail delivery for the last 2 weeks of camp.  And then camp will be over, and it will only be a few days until I return to work at Spartanburg Methodist College.  I will look back on these days with amazement at how empty they were.

So, let me enjoy this time.  Today I'll walk while there's still a bit of cool; we won't get the kind of heat the rest of the nation will experience, but it's time to shift my walks to earlier morning.  I have some reading to do before class tomorrow, but I'm looking forward to it.  The class is about the Music of Protest, a topic I've loved since childhood.  Maybe I'll make some shortcakes, the biscuit style; we've got strawberries, blueberries, and peaches that need to be eaten.

Ah, summer!