A Three-legged Dog

This is Oliver. He's a three-legged dog with one blue eye. He's shy, but friendly and today we shared our tennis ball with him. He was very interested, but was not very interested in playing fetch. We liked him very much and hope to see him again soon.

But now we're listening to the Seattle School Board meeting which is very much like a three-legged dog with one blue eye only this dog is neither friendly nor interesting. Rather, it is nasty and ugly with people shouting out obscenities and chanting in the background. It shows, I dare say, the wrong-headedness of the school board as they dig themselves into a deeper and deeper hole of bigotry and poor judgment.

Why do I watch? Ann wants to know what's going to happen with her school and the program in which she teaches. I'm trying to busy myself with other things, but like a bad accident in the highway, it's hard to look away.

Change is constant, that's for damn sure, but some do not adapt well. Ann is good at it. She's remained positive throughout the ups and downs of the threats and rumors of closures and changes. Ann is like Oliver -- good at getting around on three legs, looking handsome with one blue eye.

All of this makes me even more happy I am no longer teaching. It's a mobocracy.

And still, I am signing up for a class to retain my teaching certificate. Why, I wonder? I suppose it's fear...this economy makes me fearful and a teaching certification seems like a good fall back position. "If anything," I tell myself, "I can substitute."

But why would I want to? Seattle Public Schools is in a mess and you, too, can watch it LIVE on your television.

I'd rather play fetch with Oliver.

On a bright side, I've doubled my income this month! It was never much to begin with, but now it's double and well, that's something. My one website is finished (www.wagsnwords.com) and I'm working on my other. I will advertise soon and see if I can attract more full-paying doggy clients. Or writing clients or soon, once I get my ducks in a row, some tutoring clients.

Someone asked me today if I enjoyed working for myself. I have yet to pay taxes, so perhaps my enthusiasm is premature, but even though I'm working very hard (and have a cold to prove it), the work feels oddly rewarding. Obviously NOT in a financial way, but in a way that feels creative and reinvigorating.

Leah (who recently passed) always encouraged me to do two things -- dream and work to my potential. At her memorial service, her brother said that he learned important lessons from his sister, chief among them that he may not achieve all of his dreams, but he will always achieve his potential. I feel as if I am now doing both. In teaching, I worked to my potential, yes, but I lost my ability to truly dream. It's hard to explain, but charting my own course each and every day has rejuvenated my belief in my dreams.

Okay, this is getting way out of hand. The point is, I think, that I like what Oliver represents -- he embodies his dreams in his potential.

(Go to bed...the cold medications are talking again!)