Winter Commute: A Slice of Life

Writing teachers need to write themselves.

I am participating in the Slice of Life 2015 Challenge, 

where I attempt to write stories and narratives about moments in my life.

I apologize if this blog post veers off the informative "literacy lens" I usually write through.

This month I am pretending to be a writer, for my students' benefit (and my own).

Writers write. 

#SOL15

     22.7 miles.

     Every day, I drive an hour to go 22.7 miles to work. 

     This morning, with the freezing drizzle falling from a cloudless sky, the monotonous sound of my windshield wipers kept me company.  It was as if a gray blanket was covering the earth, making it hard to tell where the pavement ended and the horizon began.  Bare branches reached toward the sky through the forest preserves, hoping for the sun to scratch through. The only color around, though, was the hazy red flickers of brake lights in front of me, perhaps shouting STOP! to winter and its madness.  Even the radio was angry today, with the Smashing Pumpkins and their lyrics full of rage and despair.  A Bullet With Butterfly Wings, calling for change.  

     Winter, I have had enough.

     As I approached the last few miles of my trip, a rainbow of sorts appeared through the haze. A pink and orange symbol of possibility appeared, and I put on my turn signal.  How did I overcome the gray of this day?  What sign of change did I find?  A new optimism filled me, as my coffee with cream took its place riding shotgun.  Today, despite the dreary beginning, I was able to shift gears.  

     But, spring, please come.  Soon. 

     The 22.7 goes so much faster with the sun...