Herod's Always Out There🎶 Or Thanks, James Taylor

 Like all of us there have been times in my life in which I actually wondered, "Will I get through this, and how?"

In the late 80s I decided to return teaching, and to apply in the county in which we lived and where our three teenaged children were in school.  Being on the same schedule would make things a lot easier.  I had let my certification lapse and so had to take 33 credits to be re-certified.  While taking these classes at Loyola and Johns Hopkins I was also long-term subbing in a Baltimore County middle school for a friend out on maternity leave. Taking all this on was an, shall I say, 'energetic' decision on my part.

But I did it.  There were times I was so tired that I got onto the Baltimore Beltway going in the wrong direction.  Blessedly, I have a husband who is a wonderful co-parent, and our kids helped out a lot.

What I did not expect however, was my reception by Human Resources in the county in which I lived.  My interviews went well; and I got enthusiastic feedback.  The head of the department had said, "If you get an offer from another county, don't sign; let me know immediately".  I did, and I did.  The response was shattering.  "Teachers like you are a dime a dozen", and even more heart-breaking, "I wouldn't hire you if you were the last teacher on Earth."

Winded from the punch and devastated, I did not know how to come back from this or to even understand what had happened; what I had done to provoke this?

One day when I was feeling particularly down, I grabbed a CD and heard this:

… Those magic men, the Magi
Some people call them wise
Or oriental, even kings
Well anyway, those guys
They visited with Jesus
They sure enjoyed their stay
Then warned in a dream of King Herod's scheme
They went home by another way

… Yes, they went home by another way
Home by another way
Maybe me and you can be wise guys too
And go home by another way
We can make it another way
Safe home as they used to say
Keep a weather eye to the chart on high
And go home another way

… Steer clear of royal welcomes
Avoid a big to-do
A king who would slaughter the innocents
Will not cut a deal for you
He really, really wants those presents
He'll comb your camel's fur
'Til his boys announce they've found trace amounts
Of your frankincense, gold, and myrrh

… Time to go home by another way
Home by another way
You have to figure the Gods saying play the odds
And go home by another way
We can make it another way
Safe home as they used to say
Keep a weather eye to the chart on high
And go home another way

… Home is where they want you now
You can more or less assume that you'll be welcome in the end
Mustn't let King Herod haunt you so
Or fantasize his features when you're looking at a friend

… Well it pleasures me to be here
And to sing this song tonight
They tell me that life is a miracle
And I figured that they're right
But Herod's always out there
He's got our cards on file
It's a lead pipe cinch, if we give an inch
Then he realized it'd take a mile

… It's best to go home by another way
Home by another way
We got this far through a lucky star
But tomorrow is another day
We can make it another way
Safe home as they used to say
Keep a weather eye to the chart on high
And go home another way

It look me a good while to recuperate.  I accepted a job in Baltimore County, but decided I would apply for a job in my county every year for the rest of my life just out of principle.  Three years later I got the job I wanted at my dream school, and became department head.  I retired from teaching in 2007.

I went home by another way.