Here comes the sun

Spring has come to my town and it made all the difference. Lists and lists of things to do, but not enough time to do all of it. I wake up in the morning because the sun is shining through the curtains into my eyes. I have breakfast with books. I go to work and the kids are challenging, amazing. They whine, they break things, they complain, they try, they are funny, they are worried, bored. And all I have to do is be there for all of it. It's such a relief to feel like I'm really good at something again. One boy had to write a letter in English. He wrote one from the future. Two kids slammed a door into a radiator, leaving a big round hole. A new boy finally managed a first smile after three hours of me trying to make him feel more comfortable. And did you know that fish do have some kind of long term memory?

It crawled its way inside. Winter. It wasn't very cold, but it was dark throughout. I did see snow, but it was on YouTube.

I walk around with him and we both take pictures, but afterwards I always like his better. He sees things I don't see. I really like his perspective. I do know that I'm learning a lot, from him and from trying. And sometimes I like one of my own, or they're just funny. I'm now looking at everything like it could be an image. They pop up right before my eyes and make me smile. I know that every picture has been taken before, so it's hard to be original, to feel original. But it's something that I understand, doing it.

"Brand" means "fire" in Dutch. I know things haven't gotten any better, or worse. It just depends on your point of view.