It has been a long, ugly, crappy, trying week. Work challenges, compounded with conflict from one particular colleague have spiraled and sucked me up into a big, black funnel cloud of discontent. To top it all off, I haven't been sleeping well (due to the aforementioned,) and the puppy got me up at 5:00 am today because she's feeling neglected. Bad Mommy!
So after a cup of coffee and a half-hearted attempt to do some meditation, I threw a leash on her and let her drag me down the street for a walk. Maybe a little exercise and fresh air could restore my Zen, eh?
I still couldn't let go of all the drama rolling around in my little pea-brain. In my comatose stupor, I stumbled over a crack in the sidewalk. No, I didn't do an endo, but it snapped me out of my delirium long enough to make me look down. You know how you look for the affronting obstacle that audaciously tripped you? Nothing there but that crack in the sidewalk, but something I spied "cracked" me up. There, on the concrete, one of the neighborhood kids had scrawled "Go!" with a big arrow.
As soon as I read the , I was transported back to when we were kids. Do you remember those summer nights we played "Go Sheepie, Go"? I don't recall any actual rules for the game--just two teams, one hiding, one searching. The "hiders" ran, armed with chalk to draw directional arrows for the second team. Some of the arrows were in plain sight. Others were drawn in less obvious spots or as total red herrings, leading the second team down a blind alley. I think that was about as much fun as a group of kids could have on a warm summer night.
I ventured a bit farther on my quest to regain balance, still thinking about those summer games so many years ago, and I spotted this:
followed by this:
and then this:
And all the arrows led directly down to the school. The last entry before the street that circles the school read, "Look both ways before crossing." This was no game of "Go Sheepie, Go!" This was the work of a pint-sized Tony Robbins, motivating the neighborhood kids on their first day back to school. I suspect that the sidewalk pep rally was NOT applied with something as benign as chalk. So in the interest of maintaining this little neighborhood tagger's cheerleader's anonymity, I'll refrain from posting a picture of the list of the names involved. But I owe them all a personal thank-you. On a week when I was feeling particularly lost, those children restored my sense of direction and pointed me back to where life was simple, carefree and fun.
And, knowing that you're a harried and tired teacher (who should be REtired,) I thought you might like to join me on the journey down Memory Lane.
Go Sheepie! Go!
Sis
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