One wonders\u2014do mice make plans? Do they wake up and make a little mental list, including such items as gathering seeds, grooming their paws, and remembering to be grateful for peanut butter sandwiches?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m sure I don\u2019t know. But I do know that the other half of Mr. Burns\u2019 famous duo, the human creature, certainly does. \u2018Specially me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have a month-long blank slate in front of me, in the form of a substitute teaching gig in an Interior Alaska village that I have not previously visited. It\u2019s more like a wax tablet than a slate if you think about it, waiting for an imprint formed by a visit to Crooked Creek, Alaska, couple hundred miles up the Kuskokwim from Bethel, population 93 or so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do I have plans for my three to four weeks of teaching? Well, beyond making snow ice cream and baking bread with the kids (I brought the stuff) it\u2019s more of a plan to make plans. Gotta get the lay of the land first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Where I plan most ardently is in the little things, and sometimes I don\u2019t get it right. As I write this I\u2019m flying in real time towards Crooked Creek*, and I just got off a longish weather delay in Juneau. Hundred-mile-per-hour winds in Anchorage, and whatnot. This delay was long enough that I left the secure area of the airport and began to explore the rest of the building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I decided to head back through security and check on the status of my flight, I first acted upon two of my day\u2019s micro-plans. First plan: stay hydrated. So I bought a seven-dollar bottle of water. Second plan: quit stepping on my shoelaces. So I tied said laces with double knots and cinched \u2018em down good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then I had to chug my water and pick my laces loose with my fingernails so that I could get past TSA. Did I mention that I like to make plans? Did I also mention that I don\u2019t always allow my various plans to consult with each other? It happens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of my plans, though, is not going awry, and that\u2019s the one where I use the next few weeks to meet new people, learn a lot, teach a little, and have me a good old-fashioned adventure. One thing\u2019s for certain, though: Bilbo Baggins has nothing on me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
*I keep mistakenly saying \u201cCripple Creek\u201d and then bursting into song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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For your further edification:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To a Mouse by Robert Burns – Scottish Poetry Library<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n