What Is In My Bag

I am just realizing that I have way too much weight in my bag for a guy who tends to move more and read less. Three books; wow. Well, I need the math text and calculator to help pay for things. My calculator, which I tend to avoid using, is the highest tech item in the mix.  I am tutoring two students over Facetime whose parents are eager to balance the time their child is spending on Call of Duty with a little one-on-one time with a person who loves math. The bread-maker I have always admired is the author of the sourdough bread bible called Tartine Bread. It has been my go-to resource as I navigate the sticky world of sour dough baking. I baked three bricks in a row through April and finally watched in wonder as two wonderful loaves rose and turned golden before my eyes. It feels a bit like alchemy, and I cannot figure out why bread does not cost $35 a loaf after taking on this totally untameable hobby. Say Nothing is a book about The Troubles in Ireland that looks at the power of silence as a way to control people. The stark reality of Belfast in the early 70’s has been a critical counterpoint to the situation we find ourselves in today.   I have a sharpie and I am not sure why, but it always seems to come in handy, like a roll of duct tape. The batteries and headlamp are to help me get my water system at the cottage running, yet here I sit at home on this long weekend trying my best to abide by the “essential travel only” rule. This is my first time in over 20 years that I have not been able to work on the pump and cobble together a set of old copper pipes that I call  a water system under our little cabin.

I also have two fun things in my bag. The first is the Globe crossword that my wife and I try to complete each week with a level of success that makes me wonder what it is that keeps drawing me back in. The second is my pride and joy at the moment. It is an idol of immunity for a game of Survivor we are playing with family friends online. Unfortunately, I was voted off in the last ZOOM call with an idol in my pocket. So sad, but my daughter Charlotte is still in the game. With final immunity on the horizon, I am sure she wishes she had this little arts and crafts item in her possession.

What strikes me about my bag at this moment is that it is so devoid of technology. Part of this is the need to escape from my online classroom that absorbs me for about 8 hours a day. With a full 4 day weekend underway, I have tried to limit my access to any machine with a screen that sits within two feet of my head. I think the lamp and batteries are also technologically important. More so, they are a sign of my lack of faith that the patch job I created last year under the cottage will not have withstood another winter of freezing and thawing. Though I pride myself on my plumbing literacy, it is clear that I am no expert.

Finally, looking at the books gives the impression of a person who is a fan of reading, but I think that is far from the reality. I wish I loved reading the way others do. As a teacher, you would expect it to be my birthright. Books are just tools of my trade. I use them to figure out how to do things. Making and doing things while observing the world from my own little perch is much more typical of the type of person I am. The books laid out geometrically is also facade.

I think my bag has changed a bit over the past 25 years but the premise of having a contingency plan in place in case of catastrophic failure is a common theme. I am still surprised I don’t have a roll of duct tape in here. That would have been a sure thing 25 years ago.