It’s interesting to think about when flashbacks occur.  This morning I was scurrying through the usual morning routines – up at 5, coffee, check emails, shower, write and post my blog, leave the house at 8:30 for a 9:00 meeting in Long Beach – and there it was!  It came when I was brushing my teeth – a morning in January 1978!

Forty years ago!  I was scurrying, getting ready for work (2^nd grade teacher at a bilingual school in Hayward) but trying to remember the agenda for a 7:00 breakfast meeting with two a couple of CTA (California Teachers Association) mucky mucks) at a nearby pancake house.  For that gathering, I was wearing another hat – President of the Hayward Teachers Association, a voluntary position which the very next year became a full-time paid position.  But by then I was gone.

From my vantage point in the long-retired here and now, I felt the same relentless drumbeat that I had then.  This morning I was preparing for the fourth and last meeting with various community members and a Washington State Immigration Attorney from the ACLU — the fourth meeting in four days.  In 1978, I was preparing for the first of three or four meetings of that particular day.

This morning (and Thursday and Friday) I wore the same hat for each meeting – I was only going as an observer.  No responsibilities.  Forty years ago, my hats were many, including Host(ess) for a daily Cable Television program on which I interviewed various people about educational issues. The show was available in the faculty rooms of each of Hayward’s 54 schools.  My responsibilities were many and I loved it all.

Of course, this morning’s ten-second reverie was all about ‘How could I have the energy?  How did I keep my obligations straight?’  And, what a change it lifestyle it was to be recruited to Ocean Beach School District and devote my energies to building a house on the bay.  I also gave one second to examining the Regret Compartment.  None.  At least not about coming here.  But had I had the ability to clone myself, you can be sure I would have.  It was an exciting time in my career.  And I guess I love the scurrying.