Squamloonland

Here’s my 12 of 12 for August—summer’s endgame.

For those who don’t know, 12 of 12 is an internet photo project—started by a guy named Chad—whereby every twelfth of the month, one collects twelve photos of the day and posts them. Here below is my 32nd consecutive twelfth. I continue to find the process to be a useful self-reflective dipstick.

By the way this month I’ve decided to cheat, sort of. While these are the twelve I chose, almost every caption has a link to another photo I’d've liked to include.

6:12am: I set my coffee and electric toothbrush on my Mac in front of the recently painted front door as I ran back in to grab my cell phone and say goodbye to the SquamDogs.

7:10am: I participated in a training in Keene all day every day this week. My drive on this morning was made more interesting by the fact that this pickup truck forced me to follow two convoys like this all the way down NH Rte 9.

8:03am: Having notwithstanding arrived at Antioch on time, I grabbed my class materials from their spot in my immaculate and organized car among my camera, CPAP machine, Malcolm Gladwell audiobook box set, and boat bag.

8:35am: These are the people with whom I spent a truly transformational week with Kim Carter from QED as she trained us to be Critical Friends Group coaches. The only one not pictured is in this shot from later in the day.

11:14am: Since my camera was next to J while I was presenting, she was kind enough to take a few shots of me unawares. Here I was in the midst of an Issaquah protocol around solving one of my bigger professional dilemmas. The best part of this protocol is that you end up with a pile of Post-it notes written by the group containing probing questions to ponder.

12:50pm: Lunch hour was always a welcome respite from some very deep thinking. Here we are giddily rushing back after a great meal at Keene Fresh Salad—recommended to me by a former student. (I ate there twice this week.)

4:53pm: Lucky for me, friends D&S live only twenty minutes from Keene, so I saved myself a few long drives by spending Tuesday and Thursday nights at their house. I arrived just as D was finishing up his workday in his home office…

5:09pm …and S was finishing up typing her lesson plans for her first week back at her high school teaching job. She jokingly scolded me that my stay two nights before had gotten her back in school mode.

5:10pm: This is the view of Mt. Monadnock  that one wakes up to in D&S’ guest room. A five-star B&B. Bonus shot: a side view of the mountain from the drive to their house.

6:47pm: While D cooked, S and I agreed on how lucky we are to be able to stand around while our spouses cook amazing meals.

6:58pm: We had good conversation as always over D’s pasta primavera with sausage, and then postponed doing the dishes to watch…

8:58pm: …the finale of So You Think You Can Dance. It was a must-see in their household, and it didn’t disappoint. There were some truly powerful routines.

Voilà. See you in the school year.

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