Oh, the delights of the unforeseen, unexpected and formerly unknown

There are times when I can get lost in the fears of what I cannot predict...and what I cannot predict turns out to be just about everything. In a lifetime there are people and events that take you by surprise in deeply sad, sometimes tragic ways. This post, though, is dedicated to those delightful appearances of people, moments and discoveries that were wholly unpredictable, and for that, all the more delicious. It is 12:21 am on March 16th (mmm hmm, guess who's not sleeping again) and for the next 30, 60...maybe even 90 days, I will be noting life's unanticipated pleasures:

March 17th: It's 8:30 and I just sat down for the first time tonight. I've been busy cooking and baking up a storm in my kitchen. The unforeseen here isn't wholly unpredictable. Anyone who is reading this blog is familiar with my passion for food and chowing down, but it's the fun frenzy that has arisen in me that is so notable. Taking a Coursera class called "Ignite Your Everyday Creativity" I was encouraged to create a list of "to-do's" for a project. I invented a project called "Creative Kitchen" and determined that I would make at least two new meals a week. It's a good thing that I had time to work out today in the midst of digging my spoon into the Avocado Ice Cream I made last night the moment I walked in the door from school. I then started to put together the ingredients for veggie burgers with lemon cashew mayo...while wolfing down the roasted cauliflower soup I had made on Sunday. I just finished the Nutella cookies (which I am gifting to staff at school in case you were beginning to wonder how fat my big toe was going to soon get). Passion=Positive Life Force. How are you exploring yours?

March 29th: The Baci clan is in St. John's this week. This afternoon I had this deliciously victorious moment. Auntie Jamie's been a little neurotic about the amount of toaster waffles, pasta and butter and mac-and-cheese the sobrinitas have been consuming (though I do have to earnestly reflect that when I was in Barcelona, I was requesting that Mom send me Easy-Mac...creature comforts die hard, I guess). I've been making my way through Dale Carnegie's classic How to Win Friends and Influence People and one of his main tenants is "arouse in other people an eager want." I've reflected on my classroom practices in regards to his words, and now this wisdom is helping me consider how to get two intelligent, spunky sobrinas to eat their fruits and veggies. Here it is: let them pick out their own fruits and make some rainbow kabobs. Natalie was totally making my day with her enthusiasm. She was so incredibly proud of her creations...and working it to pass them off on Uncle Tommy, Auntie Cassie and Bapa. 

She's a saleswoman like her mama. And she's soon to be a great sous chef; I've got a project brewing for the summer...

April 10th:

Less than one week after I arrive home from St. John's I am flying off to Cuenca, a most quaint and lovely, European-ish feeling town in Ecuador. Seriously, is this my life? Yes, it is. Damn. Heading to Cuenca I anticipate I will find some cool little places, but I don't know that one will be called El Mercado. I don't foresee how cozy and comfortable I will feel away from home. At 4:30 on this Friday I am about to crack open my latest read. The energy of El Mercado...is just what I need at this moment. Old school John Mayer is kind of twirling through the air, bringing me back momentarily to college. I'm sipping agua aromatica con gengibre y naranja. What I take to be a North American couple sits across the room from me, well-dressed in their North Face travel apparel while two Latin men speak softly at the table in front of me. The river rushes below and sun beams make their way through an overcast sky. What I feel is simply peace. 

April 15th:

Just finished a meeting with a student and his administrator. I really like this kid, but we've been ebbing since he was sour about a cell phone incident. The conversation went really well, though, and we are both walking away with better energy towards each other, which leaves me hopeful for the last weeks that we are working together. Reflecting on this conversation, the best feeling I have is actually my understanding that the conversation does not likely mean completely smooth sailing until he graduates. It's just not realistic. My growth as an educator, and person, has been coming to this understanding, that real change takes time--weeks, months, sometimes years--and all of the ebbs and flows are necessary parts of the process. I have a great deal more patience now for my own growth over time and that of my students than I did when I began my career, or even when I began this year of teaching. After waking up a bit cranky and pouty (another floppy date last night--I think the Universe mixed up dessert and desert. I like sweet things, but I'm in a man desert and that's really not dulce), the meeting and this reflection lightens me and reminds me of the cool stuff happening within me and within others. 

April 19th: 

This morning as I was just heading out on my Sunday morning jaunt with my friend Nicole and her very spirited dog Lola, I received a text from my dear friend Iain. Would I help him rise to the challenge of baking banana bread at altitude? Absolutamente. An afternoon I thought would be one of solitude was made much lovelier in the company of Mr. Duncan. We whipped up a ridiculous amount of banana bread. Bread baking, we watched the lightening strike out against the not-so-distant mountains and played good tunes all afternoon. Emerson's words seem well-placed here: A Friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of Nature.

April 23rd:

The end of the school day was nearing and the sun was still beaming, in the midst of the rainy season. Sometimes I get stuck in my routine. Today was supposed to be my more intense workout with weights. But my soul was saying, "Go for Vitamin D!" Sometimes I need to break with routine so much that I move to another country; sometimes I become so attached to routine that it takes a good deal of consciousness to let it go for something better. Making some effort to ignore the rush hour exhaust, I powered around the park; the energy of the other walkers, runners, families and peppy pups got me feeling...exuberant you could say. All of the buildings set back against the surrounding mountains led me to yet another "My life really kicks ass" moment. 

I began this post just over a month ago to reflect on the unexpected, which I have, but more it's drawn me to just savor the everyday. Every day has something radical to offer. And there will never be another day like it. This is the only April 25th, 2015 that will ever exist...