So I woke up this morning to the look a nice, bright red head in the mirror. Yes, I am folically challenged aka bald, which some of you may think is unfortunate, but I’m okay with it (my wife actually thinks I look better sans cheveux). I have adapted fairly well to life without hair, and I am usually pretty diligent about sporting some type of headwear when I go out in the sun. However I forgot to grab a hat when I was out with the boys yesterday and thus my melon got slightly cooked. Lesson learned? I hope so, since the last thing I need is a burnt head; I take enough chiding for the white marks on my head from wearing sunglasses.

Last week I wrote about the craziness that is my life right now and things have not improved. I was just mentioning to a colleague today that it seems like every spring seems to be busier than the last. My usual comment is that “things cannot get more insane than they are” and somehow each year I seem to outdo myself. Needless to say I’m feeling the burnout and I’m looking forward to the end of the year. Yes I know that there are still two months to go, but one must think positive right?

So what’s going on? Well, where to start? First there is the marking; I certainly love my job, but I wish I could do without it. I know that one cannot teach without evaluating student progress, but sometimes I wish there was a magic marking monkey. It could start with my Gr.12 essays…that would take some stress off.

With the arrival of May, my attention has also been drawn to football. Yes I know that is a fall sport, but increasingly it is becoming a year-round endeavour. The winter months are filled with weightlifting sessions in the gym, which I spend an hour on Wednesdays supervising. All schools are permitted to run spring camps, and we hold ours in June. Even though it is a non-equipment event, there is still a lot of planning that goes into it. We try to draw students from our feeder school and this year we’re missing our “guy on the inside” which should make things a bit more tedious. We’ll see what unfolds.

Now for the past few posts I have been mentioning that I need to finish the article I wrote for Minnesota History Magazine. Somehow I haven’t managed to get to it yet, which is rather frustrating. It seems as if something gets in the way and I really need to get that out of the way. As I already indicated, my schedule is not going to get any better as we move toward to summer, so now is the time.

Rails, Rosslyn Brick Plant, Rosslyn Village, ON.

One of the things that will be filling my time is hiking. I did get out for a little walk on

Sunday with the boys in tow to re-visit to the railway around Rosslyn. I was last there at the end March, but I did not look at everything I wanted to and I did not shoot any video. It was a warm, sunny day and perfect for looking around at the last pieces of the railway left in the ground. I did find some other sections of rail that I was not aware of, hiding in the tall grass at the former Rosslyn Brick Plant. The video turned out great and it has already found its way on to YouTube. I certainly can’t wait for more opportunities to get out on the railway.

Last thing I wanted to mention was the fact that I did create a Facebook page for the railway. I had been contemplating this for a while, but I finally took the plunge today. I figured it would help attract more attention to the PD, and more people will probably “like” it than joining the Facebook group. Right now there’s not a lot of content on there, but I’m sure it will fill up soon enough. Be sure to visit and give it a like: https://www.facebook.com/PortArthurDuluthandWestern

Anyway, gotta run. Until then…