Oct 11 2008
Using the Time Turner
Allow me to describe my ideal world.
Unfortunately for me, it requires the use of a particular magic device, one found in Book Three of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Of all the abilities wizards exhibit, the one I most envy (perhaps the only one I truly envy at all) is the ability to turn back time, to do a do-over.
Here is my perfect day. I do most things just as I normally would. I get the kids off to school, do laundry, do dishes, sweep, vacuum, grade my students’ papers, maybe watch a movie with the kids when they go home, play piano, work out at the Y (or go for a walk if it’s not too cold outside), sew, etc. All day. I make dinner, my husband and I and the kids have a nice meal, and I read to the kids before they go off to bed, and then Richard and I play cards, or do something else without the television on at all.
(Notice how my day doesn’t involve my lying around and doing nothing. That simply isn’t who I am. I couldn’t sit around and do nothing if I tried. Even if I tried really hard.)
The “perfection” of the day doesn’t happen until I go to bed, though. I go to bed at a decent hour, and sleep soundly all night. Then, right around 5:30 or 6 a.m., I wake up, pull on my time-turner, and go back to the night before, just a few minutes after I got to sleep. In the dark house, I slip down to my writing room, open my laptop (okay–so I also need a new one to make this day truly perfect), and start writing. I write until just about 5:30 a.m., or 6 (if I’m feeling particularly daring). I slip off the time turner, make myself a cup of coffee, and I’m ready to start the day.
And now it’s another wonderful day, for I get to go through all the activities of the day knowing that they are not taking me away from my writing. I can now go through weeks of busy times, taking off to my kids’ soccer practice and my night class without sadness, for I know my writing hasn’t taken a backseat to all of my have-tos. I can greet a day of cleaning with enthusiasm, for my mind is on fire with the knowledge that I will have another great night to come, more writing, more productivity.
What a perfect day!
Now I just need to get my hands on a time-turner. (Drat!)
I am grading my first ever batch of English essays… had them submit electronically rather than on paper so that I could comment them and change my mind if need be.
There are some very interesting bits in them! My favourite is a section about how we know that the poem’s narrator is a male because if it was a woman they would be speaking about washing and cooking potatoes instead of digging for them because women didn’t work outside on farms in Ireland, y’know
I restrained myself in my comment - simply said Source?
Running a close second is the one that says we can “assume” that the author of the poem is the speaker and goes on about his dad the potato farmer (not!)
I am SURE we covered that sort of thing in class. Repeatedly.
The do over…remember the scene in Superman where he spins the world in reverse and it reverses time. LOL.
You also will need a tanker truck of caffeine, hon.