Commence Summer

For those of us in academia, the seasons are still defined by a calendar, but it's a very different one than the rest of the world uses. Fall and spring are defined by the long semesters at our schools (which got a little screwy last year when the public schools in my area tried an ill-fated experiment with holding fall exams in January), winter is the time off for Christmas and New Year's, and the time between spring and fall is summer. It may not divide the year into nice equal portions like that, but it's how we roll.

So my summer either started today, when the last of my schools let out, or it started two days ago upon my departure from a single lesson to go to a doctor's appointment. EIther way, the long school year is done, and it's time to get into summer mode.

Except that this summer will be quite different, thanks to the accident. Whenever my surgery happens, I'll be sidelined in general for a few days (at most, they say) and from driving for a few weeks. I won't exactly get to do a lot of "summery" stuff until my recovery is well along--no swimming for me anytime soon. I'm attending a convention next month in Orlando, but my participation in the time they've given us to attend the Disney parks is highly in doubt (I won't exactly be riding Space Mountain that soon after surgery, and even Epcot sounds like it'll be too much walking). And I'm really annoyed to be stuck wearing long pants all the time (because of the knee brace), though it does make my laundry loads a bit lighter. I just hope that, as of this morning, I've jumped through the last pre-op hoop and can get surgery scheduled post-haste.

But still, there are some advantages to summer. It's a time to recharge my batteries a bit (which hopefully will include some writing this summer, since I've gotten the hang of notation software now); you can't beat my 15-step commute to work (that's the distance from my bedroom to the studio room here, since all my school lessons are taught at Casa de Kev during the summer; and six a.m. alarm clocks are mostly a thing of the past until August.

At any rate, I'm looking forward to a little relaxation. Hopefully my leg will heal like it's supposed to and I can enjoy a few summertime activities before school cranks up again.