Day #291 Writing Through COVID-19: School, Politics, Ping-Pong

School starts tomorrow. 

Lots of people, not just teachers, feel the Sunday-night blues. Even if we love our work, the closing hours of Sunday feel like pulling a sled up the crest of the hill.

Some of the difficulty involves accepting what I didn't get done over the weekend--or in this case, the break. Some stems from knowing Monday demands I crank my energy-dial from slow-cooker to high-broil. 

On the Iowa English teachers' Facebook page tonight, my colleagues across the state are saying "I love my job BUT...."
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Part of the challenge of returning to school tomorrow is knowing that Iowa's COVID numbers are still horrible. Tonight I opened the coronavirus.iowa.gov  link for the first time in days. We are improving from our most brutal numbers. Slightly more than half the counties are now under the 15 percent level indicating rampant spread. One county (Calhoun) is actually under 5 percent (4.3) tonight. This is the right trend, but the numbers are still grim. 

Cass County is at 16.5 percent positivity. 

Our school district just lost a beloved bus driver on the last day of 2020 "after a short battle with COVID-19 Pneumonia" according to his obituary. 
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Tomorrow will be an in-service day for teachers to tie up loose ends from first semester and prepare for the second. My calendar shows a meeting in the conference room at 1 p.m. Nine people are on the invite list. I calculate the size of the room and realize I'll have to request a Zoom-in option. 

This thing isn't over. 
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I cannot end this post on such a blue note. I had a GOOD day! I finished all my grading. I ran two miles outdoors. I played the piano and the accordion, finished a book, and most importantly, I beat my husband 2-1 in a three-game Ping-Pong challenge. 

Around the edges I caught the news: dozens of our elected (!!??) senators and representatives are planning to question/deny/abort our country's process of voting in an attempt to win favor from a president who denies reality. I am heartsick. 

Enough.
Be well.
Write.

Let me find a happy picture.

Game #1 21-15 (Dan)
Game #2 21-16 (Allison)
Game #3 26-24 (Allison)