Good Gravy! The Blog is Back!

As I have settled in to my new life, I have really let posting fall by the side of the info super highway. It has been like TWO MONTHS! Does anyone still subscribe?

Fear not faithful readers (if there are, indeed, any of you left), I am back!

Life in Lakeville, CT is MUCH MUCH different than in PA. For one, the scenery is simply incredible here. Our house overlooks the golf course and distant mountains. The clouds are spectacular here; it is almost as if they are closer to the ground than the ones in PA. Maybe they are smore swirly or swishy - I donno - they are just cooler.

We are adjusting to life at Hotchkiss, and I am daily amazed by the talent of the students and teachers. In one week, we heard a GREAT lecture about historical travels to Antarctica in preparation for a school trip to the Antarctic donated by Mr. Forrest Mars (think M and Ms); the faculty met with Sir Michael Barber, formerly of the Tony Blair administration, on change in education; listened to the unique music performed by Alturas Duo; perused paintings by artist Steven Romm, and, oh, did I mention that we had the honor of meeting and listening to a lecture by President Enkhbayar of Mongolia? Imagine - this was just ONE WEEK.

I am incredibly impressed with the faculty here; they are talented, engaging, smart, opinionated, diverse, and resourceful. They don't follow one another blindly; they carefully consider opinions, positions, and, truly, discuss matters. Previously, I would have winced at the conversation about the VP candidates in the hallway near my office; after this one, I was actually excited to hear everyone's take on it.

Who knew that there could even be a group of such diverse people that can laugh and debate and still trust each other at the end of the day? Amazing. I am blessed to be surrounded by such great and inspiring people!

The students are equally diverse, but also equally passionate. There is no apathy here; they are engaged. This stems from having great teachers (ones that want more than spitting back MLA formatting). But, it also illustrates the culture fostered in an awesome place like this.

It is great fun to play board games with the boys on my floor, but we also have great conversations about sports and politics, too. They are informed, and make strong arguments to support their positions. We just won our home football game (really, like 5 minutes ago), and the kids are in the hall having fun, laughing, and just being teenagers. It is a great place to be.