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.

Home By Another Way -- w/ a nod to James Taylor

Yesterday wasn't just dark and dreary; it was downright frightening.  The National Weather Service posted tornado, high wind, severe thunderstorm warnings and flash flood advisories, and while we were spared the tornadoes the rest came to fruition.

We deferred to the ominous skies and frightening winds and stayed in most of the day.  I planned 90% of my garden and 'pot-scape', and started on that shopping list (I have to hurry before Richard sends out my picture to local nurseries with a warning "DO NOT SELL TO THIS WOMAN".  (I just cast a wider net.  VA and PA aren't that far.))

Rains and wind abated last evening and we set out to friends' house for a "Man Cave christening".  As we traveled west on I70, we noted that the sky west of us looked almost black.  Not a good sign...And then the rains and winds hit us.  Unable to see, we pulled over for a short time.  We tried again a short time later and decided to call our hostess, turn around and head for home. 

Sometimes we just have to re-assess things and change course -- and while this was not an important event, it still served as a lesson.

Whenever I See Your Smiling Face, I Have to Smile Myself....

Yesterday I drove up to PA to visit my mom. She's doing quite well and we had a good time together -- had a cheese steak for lunch and schmoozed for an hour, and giggled through Target where we bought outfits for the grand daughter.   It rained most of the way up and back down, but that's okay.  I had my friend James Taylor with me, and if I weren't singing along I drove in quiet just thinking.  I 'wrote' a short story that I'll type out within the next few days.  I took inventory of goals:  friends I need to contact; research I want to do, should I close my Facebook account.  (More and more I see postings that I find annoying -- I 'hide' all the games, and lately I've been 'hiding' some people.  For instance, one of my ex-students has a wonderful job that she bitches about constantly; denigrating patrons, her superiors, and their particular service. Another student pretentiously flaunts his importance.  Frankly, I don't want to hear it.   I mean, come on, that's what a blog is for! :) ) I've  decided I MIGHT look for a part time job answering phones.

I also thought about Jim who died on Friday of a heart attack. He was one of the good guys;  my friend when I was at Long and Foster Real Estate, my manager when I was at Century 21, and my broker when I went with him to his own firm where welcomed me even though he knew I wouldn't be long for the real estate world.  One time while I worked at Century 21, I had torn the ligaments in my ankle while playing tennis and was 'casted' for almost two months.  Jim arranged it so the office Christmas party was at our house -- he came in with a group and just took over.  Soon after, I decided to take him to lunch to thank him, so we drove over to an Italian place in Laurel and both ordered full lunches; I insisted!  I  was adamant he order dessert -- after all it was my treat.  Who knew they didn't accept American Express?  Jim wound up paying for the whole thing.  I was mortified.  We laughed about that for a while.  Today we say good-bye.

When you give an inch, Herod takes a mile...

Thursday seemed momentous but actually a lot of little things happened. I worked out at the gym, completed a post (I'm still outraged!), had an appointment with Cheryl, also got a pedicure (Nantucket Mist on the toenails), finished The Hour I First Believed (this book makes me want to write -- I really 'lived in it' -- kind of hard to adjust out of it, actually), and then last night I got an email allegedly from AOL that told me I needed to 'update' my account information and if I didn't, my service would be suspended.

That brought me pause, stopped me in my proverbial tracks. First of all, I don't have an AOL account, although I retained the address when I switched to another server. Secondly, AOL was always very clear that they would NEVER request personal information online. The form I was to fill out was unbelievably thorough, including credit card verification numbers, my mom's maiden name, my passwords for my internet accounts and bank. When I clicked on the various AOL-typed icons around the site, they all came up "Site not available" -- another red flag. How easy (and remarkably stupid) it would have been for me to give them all that info. I clicked on "Report Spam", hoped I'd never see their message again and that AOL would, and that big, heavily armed, scary, hairy men and women would raid their lair and arrest them all.

What is really frightening is how naive I am. I'm the last one to see a scam. I think Bernard Madoff looks like such a nice man -- those cute cheeks, and that innocent twinkle in those calculating eyes. (Not like Ann Coulter who just looks nuts.) In my personal journey, I have had to learn the hard way that evil sometimes looks so beautiful, so friendly, so caring and honest. I'm not alone; sometimes we all trust too easily, too readily. In the words of James Taylor in "Home by Another Way," "Herod's always out there, he's got our cards on file... A king who would slaughter the innocents will not cut a deal for you." We all need to take heed.