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Decompression

I have always enjoyed the rhythm of the academic year. Some parts of the work are repetitive, and so having the variations of monthly exams, the mania of the students and faculty trying to get work done before breaks, the meetings at the end of term where folk are trying to remember their names: I love it all.

At the end of each semester though we go from highway speed to parking and it's rough on the transmission. The adrenal glands die. I and many others are tired but unable to sleep, still trying to process the rush of events. Bodies ache from academic work which is not the same as manual labor and yet we all just ache.

In December, we along with many others celebrate the holiday by travels to be with family when I at least am at a nadir in terms of mental and physical energy. It is the calendar, it happens every year, I try to prepare ahead for it and then give myself a break when I make minor errors.

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