August - - shhhhhhhh

 Hi! On the quiet side of things... 

July was summer-camp-focused. I have been teaching some form of summer camp over the last 20ish years. And it's okay to be done. Right? (I have a hard time quitting things.) 

My expectations on summer camp are lowwwww. Safety! Fun! Try to avoid Exhaustion! ... exhaustion always comes. It's always a mixed bag, you never know what you're stepping into (on a daily basis), ever changing, ever tired, ever reminding students to listen to each other and celebrating them... (Plus, there's been this pandemic. We're all trying our best.) And watching the students do a better job socially than my generation has ever done.

The kids are alright. I'm just tired. 

 - Children's Theatre Company middle school... The theme was Holes. They DID SUCH A GOOD JOB. (And, was there one student who was too young for the class? Who I didn't learn was too young until the last day, after my teacher assistant and I wrangled and wrangled and reminded? BECAUSE HE WAS THIS MANY YEARS OLD? BECAUSE IT WAS HIS FIRST SOCIAL THING IN THREE YEARS? Who's parents were so happy and grateful and just lovely folks... The energy.. it goes.) 

Lesson: next time, do a grade check of the kiddos. The front office was also surprised when I told them on Friday, and shared how difficult it would be to avoid this. Which, honestly, bummer. 

See? Summer camp. 

 - Bakken Museum Young Makers for two weeks. 2nd - 3rd graders. Makin' stuff. (And yet, again, was there a volunteer the first week who seemed to be actively working against me and my teaching assistant? GAHHH! First week, a panic. Second week, new volunteer, and it was a lovely time.)

SUMMER CAMMMMMMP!

The only way to avoid this is, honestly, to stop teaching summer camp. As it's always, for me, been this Chutes and Ladders experience, as humans are humans, and it's a bit of a crucible. 

Also, now, I have children of my own. Who are summer camp age. This is probably making a difference in the spoons I have for this these age groups. The patience expands and contracts like lungs. Mix in some wild fire smoke, hot hot days, and some medical issues on my own kids' side... In many ways, July was a lot. 

Performance-wise, I've hit a couple of music Open Mics. Shout out to Zachary Scot Johnson and Minneapolis Cider... what a dream. Bring Your Kids had a performance for Eden Prairie School's Eagle Zone Junior (YAY!), and I head down to Mankato today to teach an Intro to Improv workshop for a summer library program through COMPAS. 

News: HUGE is buying a theater! GASP!!!! This is incredible. All the news here. No shows til mid-October, which is a bummer, but ALSO MAKES COMPLETE SENSE. 

We visit family out of town for a good chunk of August, and then September rolls out, and the year resets again. Rehearsals for Family Dinner begin, and the count down to October starts to tick. Not in a bad way. Just what's ahead, lovely and busy and challenging and also hopefully joyful. 

Hoping the summer has been lovely for you!