I am currently sitting in a 40 year old cabin located at 9,800 feet at the base of Wheeler Peak - the highest point in New Mexico. I wasn't going to do much in the way of blogging for a few weeks, but responsibilities and obligations do continue...and when I discovered that I have access to wifi even here in the Kit Carson National Forest, I had no excuse not to submit my post.
To read more about the technology that I have access to even while on vacation, you might like to read a post I wrote over on The Faculty Room.
In the meantime - and certainly not unaware of the irony, I am writing to remind us (or maybe just myself) that from time to time we need to shut it all down. Walk away from the technology. Turn it all off and just tune out for awhile.
Re-Fresh. Re-New. Re-Create. Ourselves. Naturally.
I saw a t-shirt that said, "SpellCheck cannot fix stupid". It reminded me that we CAN become over-reliant on the tools of the digital age. And as much as I'd love to send everyone a Powerpoint full of music and pictures from this beautiful wilderness, it could never take the place of encouraging you to take a drive out to the country and observe the scenery first-hand.
You can watch all the fishing shows you want on the Outdoor Channel - or you can pick up that old rod and reel and head out to your favorite stream, river, or lake.
You can watch all the golf you want on TV this weekend - or you can pick up those clubs collecting dust in the garage and head out to your favorite course.
I can continue to write this post, or I can assume I have made my point and send it in, turn off my laptop, put my iPod, PDA, and cellphone in the drawer and go take a long hike into the beautiful mountains.
Hmmmm, not much choice there.
See y'all when I return to my office in a few weeks!
The humming noise of All Things Technological will now be replaced solely with a totally different and totally natural humming...
What beautiful photos! Enjoy your break!
Posted by: Addie Gaines | July 10, 2008 at 11:17 AM
Good Man!
Posted by: meg | July 10, 2008 at 01:09 PM
I am sitting on my couch, about 20 feet from my driveway. The kids are in bed, it is quiet, and I am off tomorrow. With this economy, you don't always have to go away to get away. Great post and picture. :)
Posted by: dcowart | July 10, 2008 at 08:06 PM
Based on everyone else's comments on this post and the other recent "you gotta rest and take care of yourself" posts... this is going to sound like heresy-- but...
After 30 years as an educator and 20 of those years as a school leader-- I CAN'T WAIT for school to start again. I am more excited and energized than I have ever been. So while new administrators are working on systems to manage stress... know that some of us actually feed off that stress!
Don't get me wrong... I like traveling. But right now... when I am writing or blogging or reading.... it is all in preparation for making extraordinary things happen in my school this year. We start next week, and I feel like an 8-year old at Opening Day of Little League.
Posted by: Kevin W. Riley | July 10, 2008 at 09:41 PM
Nice perspectives from dcowart and Kevin. I relate to and agree with both.
Posted by: Marshall | July 11, 2008 at 09:54 PM
Next time, leave the laptop, PDA, etc., etc. at home, and REALLY unplug! Thanks for a refreshing post.
Posted by: Michael | July 14, 2008 at 06:58 AM
wow, i miss the days in the mountains of NY. Lucky you!
Posted by: mike | July 15, 2008 at 08:35 PM