The summer is over. The students had their last exam. We met up at the Trout Pub in Wolvercote for dinner. Tonight the graduate students and a couple of us faculty are going to an Italian restaurant to end the term. I will meet 3 of my students for cream tea at 3:30 for one last time. We plan a reunion in my back yard in September. One of the students has been performing at the open mic sessions at a local club and from the raves, she is really good. She has agreed to be our headliner. My deck is a natural stage with seats and tables set up in the back yard it becomes an outdoor venue. I am planning on showing a movie outdoors to the neighborhood gathering we have every week when I return as well. Ah the plans, all the meetings bombarding me in the email. So…I must reflect.
How has this time away from home, family, and friends affected me? My first thought is how much I miss talking with my daughter in random conversations. She has a gift of words and expressions that I love. I miss that most. Skype has not been that helpful with her schedule and mine and the crankiness of Skype.
I am eager to change clothes. I have been rotating among 5 outfits all summer. I have washed them, rest assured, but they are getting tiring. I have one black dress I have worn at high table every Monday night for 6 weeks with different accessories. This has worked…I had no more room when I came over or as I go back, but I am tired of the black dress. I have worn one pair of shoes completely out and they are in the trash shed already.
I have written a fair amount. Did I accomplish my goals? Most of them. I completed all the “had to” projects hanging over my head and have produced 250 pages on my book. I had hoped to have the book completely drafted by now, but I did not take into consideration that I had to teach every morning, schlepp back and forth in the rain with computer and bus schedules, grade papers, and try to make my legs work on days when they rebelled. I need 3 more weeks in Ireland to really get the work done.
Oxford. Last evening at dinner one of the Oxford dons asked if I had enjoyed my time in Oxford. I replied with a quick, “no.” He was stunned. He wanted to know why I had answered that way. I went on to explain that he asked me the question just so he could get a “yes” answer, so I answered no. He laughed heartily and for an Englishman that was quite some feat. I have learned that how I answer my life’s questions depends on me, on how I see it and not with how others want me to see it. He wanted to know what were the bad parts. I told him about the person coming into the flat when I was there but that was all sorted out and I felt better when the maid was over the moon excited about the new vacuum cleaner, so all was forgiven. The Oxford don loved the story and laughed heartily again agreeing that there are always good and bad moments to one’s travels.
I have learned that solitude is a lifestyle whether you practice it in your own home or in a rented flat or hotel room. I have gained a lot from my solitude. May Sarton said, “Loneliness is the poverty of self; solitude is richness of self.” I totally agree.
I return to Athens to greet the madness that Fall semester at UGA offers. I bring with me memories of all the people I have talked with, met, hugged (Simon, a sales manager at Boswell & Co. hugged me goodbye today), shared stories and took a moment in our lives to acknowledge our presence. That is as good a summer as anyone can hope for. I look forward to seeing each of you soon.
Leara Rhodes 