End of the School Year

No matter how much I try, the end of the school year always feels like a whirlwind.  This year, the whirlwind was magnified by my duty as a chaperone for the our school’s annual 8th grade trip.  We went north, to Salem, Boston, and Plymouth, Massachusetts.  I was exhausted, because it was June, but the weather was splendid, none of the kids got into trouble, and I did have the chance to make some beautiful pictures.

In Salem, we saw some of the sights related to the Puritan Witch Trials of the late 1600s.

Once in Boston, we took a walking tour and saw an old graveyard next to the Boston Commons.

All over the city, colonial buildings tuck in next to more modern structures, as is the case for the old Boston State House.

Throughout the city that day, I enjoyed the blue sky.

At Plimouth Plantation, a reenactment site on Plymouth Bay, I admired the flowers.

The colonial village was packed with field trip visitors like my group, but I did catch a quiet moment in the fields behind the village, as the Atlantic shone in the foreground.

In the end-of-the-year hubbub, I look for any quiet moment that I can find.  I use them to reflect on the year and grasp for just enough energy to recharge my spirit for the final push.  By next week, I’ll be on the other side of the school year, grateful for blessings received (and earned!) and ready for some time off.