Sprung

I watched the Today show this morning. No, I wasn't anxiously awaiting the return of Kathie Lee Gifford, though if I had known this cultural epoch had been achieved, I might have lasted longer. Instead, I was watching Matt Lauer and crew for the plain and simple reason that I could. There was nothing calling for me to leap out of bed and stop watching. Quite simply I had reached the logical end of my Spring Break.
For the rest of the school year, this is it, vacation-wise. We get Memorial Day off, but April is a vast desert with not a shady spot in sight to pull over and recharge my mind and body. There are plenty of weekends, and those will be eagerly awaited as the culmination of this school year approaches.
Baseball season has begun, and I know that the ritual of changing from my Denver Broncos windshirt to my Chicago Cubs windshirt must happen today. I know that standardized testing looms just over the rise, with all of its attendant expectations and stresses. I know that the fourth grade boys will return from recess just a little more pungent than when they left, and the fourth grade girls will announce, as if it were news, "Mister Caven, it's hot in here."
They're right. It's spring and everything is getting hotter as the days get longer. I shudder a little when I remember a time when two weeks of vacation was the standard. The very notion that I would take César Chávez Day off would have seemed ridiculous to me. Now it is expected. I know that there is a reason for teachers and students to have time away from one another during the school year, but every so often, I wonder if we don't all lose some of that educational mojo by extending our vacations.
Nevertheless, I have this Monday to ponder the life of César Chávez, and imagine what will happen tomorrow. And while I'm waiting for that time to come, I think I'll play just one more round of Guitar Hero.