Write

It has been nearly one year since I last traveled.  Things that I need to do, have to do, am compelled to do, have overwhelmed my ability to find the time and space for what I want to do.  Namely, I have not been able to travel.  Life, family, work have all been too important and too overwhelming for me to break away.

Even though I am still in the middle of being unable to pack my bags and go, events beyond my control have made my desire to travel virtually impossible.  A virus has closed borders, modes of transit, schools and, now, restaurants, creating communities of quarantine even where there is no disease.

Until Friday I was working.  Even though the governor’s mandate from the day before said gatherings of 1000 people needed to be cancelled, and my school has nearly 3000 students, we still had classes.  My students, almost universally, did not want to school to close, partly because of their lack of interest in e-learning (“I can’t even learn calculus WITH a teacher!”) and partly because it would halt their social ties.  I understand; I was reluctant to walk away from school, especially from my bilingual students for whom the learning and the social contacts are critical.  I also understand the importance of dismantling potential vectors for spreading the disease.

School is closed and I am home.

My question of what to do now was met with a friendly challenge:  write.