Today I saw familiar faces, faces that I was happy to see and faces that seemed happy to see me. I have a few of the same students in my classes, and I have two whole freshmen classes that were less familiar with the school than me. Granted, I wasn't a huge help giving the freshmen directions (I'm still unable to tell anyone exactly where room 323 is), but it felt good knowing I have a place in my school's community. I'm not expecting this year to be a breeze, but I'm already feeling like I might be able to scrape by with a solid "needs improvement" this year and I won't have to fake anything to anyone.
I just thought of a my own middle school's old slogan, which I probably haven't thought of since I was in middle school over ten years ago. The principle used to say, "The wind still blows warm across Swampscott Middle School." Today I felt warm breezes blowing down the English corridor. I love breezes, especially the ones that connect me to the scenery around me. Maybe that's what Yeats was talking about when he wrote "The Wind Among the Reeds"; when you feel the wind blow over your arms and body while also seeing and hearing it blow through the reeds of grass, suddenly it all makes a bit more sense.