If I were still teaching, then today would be my final day of summer vacation, However, that’s not my life anymore, so my summer won’t end until summer itself ends. You have no idea how happy this makes me.
Today, though, I feel a residual bout of the blues — similar to what I used to feel every mid-August from the age of five until the age of fifty-two. That’s a long time to dread mid-August, but that sad feeling is so ingrained in me that I suspect it will take a few more summers to get completely past it during this time of year.
I hope I do, though. I want to leave that feeling far behind me.
In the past, July 4th always marked the middle of summer break, and the Antelope County Fair marked the end of summer because it fell the weekend before I’d have to return to school as a teacher. As we know, it seems that teachers (and students) start school earlier and earlier every year. Tomorrow, the staff at my old school return to work, and my son starts his third year of teaching at his current school.
I, however, get to keep on enjoying the lovely summer days as long as they last.
I’m sending this week’s post out a few days early because I’ll be speaking at my first out of state library appearance on Friday. It will be at Rapid City, SD. No idea how many people there will bother showing up to listen to a Nebraska author they’ve never heard of, but I’m crossing my fingers. And, yes, I will be up there during Sturgis’s annual motorcycle rally, but I’m not taking the bike — I do hope to drive up to Sturgis, though, just to see how crazy it really is.
On a positive note, when I return, I will speak at the David City library here in Nebraska, and I just got an email from the librarian there to let me know that they already have 30 people registered and are hoping for 40! That will be awesome if 40 people come to the event. They made a really nice flyer for it, too.
Last week, I told you that I was going to be featured in the Norfolk Arts Center’s August newsletter. I hadn’t yet received the physical copy, but I now have it. Here is a photo of the page devoted to me and my answers.
A few days ago, I met up with a childhood friend — one I spent every summer with from the age of six until my teen years when I became more interested in spending time with boys instead. She and I drifted apart over the years after I graduated and moved away, and she’s since moved to Florida where she’s been a teacher for many years.
Facebook is useful for finding old friends and helping them stay in touch, and for a while that’s really all we were — Facebook friends.
But then she decided to write a self-help/motivational book, and she reached out to me to ask for advice on a lot of different aspects. I gladly obliged and answered her questions. She then started to read my books, something that is unusual for her because she only reads self-help books, whereas I write fiction.
She has really enjoyed my books, and I kept saying that I’d get hers, too, but I didn’t. Then she came back to Nebraska for a family reunion, and I took advantage of her proximity to meet up for a couple hours and catch up. I also got a signed copy of her book from her, and I signed the copy of “The Clearwater House” that she had brought with her.
We posed for a photo with our books. While she only has the one out so far, I trust there will be more.
She’s a middle school P.E. teacher, but her school has thrust other subjects upon her over the years — as administrators so often like to do and as I was the victim of far too often. This year, she has to teach a culinary arts class. Hmmm, not sure how that coincides with P.E., but that’s how it goes, I guess.
I do not miss those days of being surprised by an administrator’s whim or inability to fill a position. Heck, I do not miss much at all about those days.
So glad I’m writing and following my dream instead.
The rest of August will be enjoyable, like the past two Augusts have been. Those residual blues are all gone already.
I will end the month working at the Nebraska State Fair in the Nebraska Writers Guild booth in the expo building. I’ll be there on the 26th, 27th, and 30th from 9:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. if you’d care to stop and say hello.
My news story about the county fair ran on the first page and included four of my photos. I don’t think they’ve ever used four of my photos before, so that was kind of a big deal for me. I’m going to include a clipping of the story for my paid subscribers beyond the paywall.
If you’re not yet a paying subscriber, please consider becoming one. You then have full access to my archives, get to read portions of my stories before they are published, and will have a chance to win a copy of my next book. It’s only a few dollars a month — less than the cost of a couple drinks at Starbucks (or wherever you get your fancy coffee beverages).
Until next week. Enjoy the rest of the summer!
Tammy Marshall
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Tomes and Topics to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.