It isn’t just the farm that will be keeping me busy this year. In truth, a big part of the reason I’m staying is that I decided to return to my high school alma mater and provide speech services for the students I worked remotely with last year. For the past two years I have done teletherapy to provide speech services to students in Maine schools. Last year, I was randomly assigned to LHS, the very school I graduated from eons ago. The school and the community have changed tremendously but the profound needs of the student body only have grown. I had the privilege to work with many students facing economic hardship, prejudice, and family instability all while navigating the intricacies of attending high school with learning challenges. These kids won my heart. They won my heart in spite of my cynical, hardened outlook. I learned about different cultures, different languages and was reminded that at the end of the day we are all alike in certain fundamental ways. High school is hard. Being a teenager is hard and appears to have only become harder with the demands and access to social media. In May, I learned that the school was determined to have a speech pathologist in house this year and something in my heart told me that this might be a full circle moment where I could give back to the community I was brought up in.

So I here I am. It is 6:56 am on a Tuesday morning in September and I am at Lewiston High School, eating my yogurt and preparing for the day. I have only been here one week so it is too early to say if this was a good decision or not, but it will definitely be a change. I have learned I do best with structure or I get a little nutty with gardening or cooking or exercising. I like the limits of having formal work days and it seems I am able to meet the challenge of dressing for work and moving off my couch to deliver services. Driving to Lewiston in the early morning is hard. By the time I get through Lisbon and all the beauty that route 196 offers, I’m almost over it.

Today, I noticed the clouds. Absolutely beautiful, ribbony patterns in the sky all shades of white, cream, peach, and blue. I wonder when it is that we stop realizing how beautiful things around us are? If one were to view a painting of those clouds, it would be clear you were viewing a work of art. But it is there all the time. I decided to try to stop taking if for granted. Admittedly, I was motivated to look up in part because because my driving route was less than inspiring. But, the sky is always there and it is really amazing. Even when driving to LHS. My brother always says to look up. Maybe he is on to something.