Perspective

It must be 80 degrees in the library classroom as I peer over at the clock, wishing away the minutes until I can coast down a series of hills to my doorstep. I have vowed not to drive my car to work on any more sunny school days, and so most of my afternoons these days end with a quiet ride through the Broadview neighborhood, sliding between the cemetery and a row of spacious backyards. Today, it is this cool, green place I am craving while I stare out at the hot, blue-white sky. 80 degrees in here, and I have even taken the proper precautions, pulling the shades down as far as I can bear, cracking the windows and leaving the doors open. It is unavoidable, and we begin to wilt in the heat.

"It's so hot," I moan, probably far more emphatically than any of my students.

"We're dying!" cry the Seattle students, shaking their heads and plotting what outfits they will wear (or rather, NOT wear) to counter the early heat wave. "We're going to burn up in here!"

We surely will roast, I am thinking, dreaming of the tall bottle of water with which I will ward off the rising temperature. A young Islamic girl, wrapped in a veil, long sleeves, and a floor-length, flowy skirt, raises her eyebrows at me.

"Seriously, folks. It's supposed to be 85 tomorrow!"

Another student, from Somalia, wakes up from his reading as I slouch listelessly across the laptop keyboard, teacher poise tossed aside like an unnecessary garment. I glance over the top of the screen to see him grinning.

"Oh!" he cries. "It's good, it's good, it's good, good, good!"

I begin to laugh in the hot, quiet classroom, where my diligent students deal with climate better than I. After a moment they ask why I am laughing, and I can't tell them why. I am laughing about perspective, the lesson I taught so carefully this morning but have forgotten now. I am laughing at myself, the whiny young teacher who can't bear to be cooped up inside during these last four weeks of school. I am laughing not with derision but with delight, delight for my students who waited patiently through eight rainy months and are now rejoicing in the sunshine.