Journal: 8/16/05

Tuesday, August 16, 2005 This morning I loaded my pack with two 10 lb weights and trudged up and down the steps in the park for about 40 minutes. It’s a rather enjoyable form of exercise, I find. The park is a peaceful place at 7:00 am, and I can usually do some satisfying meditating as I climb the steps. It’s also a perfect way to get my mountaineering muscles in shape for our 8th grade 4-day hike in New Hampshire in October. I read some in Dickens’ Little Dorrit this afternoon and got almost nothing out of it. I may have been sleepy, preoccupied, or simply feeling lethargic, or the book may just not have been very well written for those few pages. Whatever the reason, the words flew right past me, just as I’m sure they often do for my students when they’re doing their assigned reading. Perhaps this experience will make me more understanding of their reading troubles. I took a walk in the park after dinner tonight, and it made me wonder why I don’t do that every single night. It’s a perfectly lovely park, just perfect for an evening stroll. Many folks were out to enjoy the beauty of the place as the evening coolness came on.