Spring Break!

Spring break 2024 has arrived. It’s been a long winter. Not in terms of the weather. It’s been 70 and sunny since January. Probably not great for the planet, but the weather has been good for me.

I’ve tried to walk to campus a few days a week. Put on the big headphones my wife Katie bought me. Listen to Comedy Bang Bang or Conor Oberst’s attempts to remake the Bright Eyes catalogue. Let my mind drift. It’s about a thirty-five minute walk. Back in Pennsylvania, I taught literacy methods at the Altoona campus two days a week. And I’d try to get down to campus for office hours on Wednesdays. It was about a forty-five minute drive from my house near State College to Penn State Altoona. Some mornings, I wouldn’t see another car. Just gentle mountains. Green fields. A very peaceful drive, even when I lost connection to Spotify after driving over a mountain.

Anyway. It has been a long winter in terms of my job. I’m spent. But spring break is here now. Let’s get crazy, baby. Sam Tanner gone wild.

***

Not so wild, I suppose. I’m writing this on the Friday morning before spring break. I’m on campus early for a meeting. After being on campus late last night to teach. I’m eager for a week away from work.

Family friend Natalie is coming to visit this weekend. Then, after she leaves, we are taking a short trip to St. Louis. Solomon’s is eager to see the Arch. No way in hell you’re getting me up in that thing, but I guess we’ll see how it goes. We’ll hit the City Museum. We’ll go to the Zoo. Forest Park. It’ll be nice to get out of Iowa City.

Katie and I drove to St. Louis years ago. Her aunt and uncle lived there at the time. We bummed around the city. I remember a good sushi place. I remember wandering around Forest Park. It was a nice trip.

We return to St. Louis with a 10-year-old Solomon and an 8-year-old Samson. More gray in my beard. Less lilt in my step, maybe, but alive and well. Mostly, I’m looking forward to getting out of my routine. It’s been a busy few months and I need a break. Especially from email. And meetings. The two things that gobble up my soul.

***

Maybe I should fly to Cancun. Invest in a beer bong. A thong, perhaps? That might be the way to stave off a mid-life crisis. Or to embrace it, I guess.

No, kind reader, I think that 43-year-old Sam will be content with a family road trip to St. Louis. Seeing family friend Natalie. Sleeping in. And turning my eyes away from my email. I’m not cutting out screens altogether. Katie and I have Baldur’s Gate to beat. And I remain one of the topped ranked Madden players in the country. Still, turning away from work. It has to happen.

So that’s it. Spring break 2024. Let’s get wild, Sam.