By David Fortier 

Come Sunday morning, the week will have flown by. That is not always the case. Some weeks never seem to end, so this makes me wonder why it is this week was one of the fast ones. It might have been that there were several meetings, virtual ones, but meetings just the same. 

On Wednesday, there were two union meetings involving employees of the district where I work, one the regular monthly meeting with the entire district and a separate one, later the same evening, involving members from the high school. 

At the high school, we are trying to figure out what we learned from this past year, how we would like it to influence what comes next and how to get more involved in the decision making.  

Then there was a meeting of the Memorial Boulevard Intradistrict Arts Magnet School building committee on Thursday, just an update, relatively brief but still informative, and one that included some pictures of what students can look forward to.  

The school is going to be beautiful. Students who choose to attend are going to have some really wonderful opportunities. I know the people working on the project are doing their best, and they want the best for their students. So, I am going to give them a pass here because there are always issues that might be addressed that dump cold water on things. 

At some point, I will get to my issues, they are more philosophical than practical. If you’d like a preview of these broader issues, you might do well to check out this podcast, “Back to School,” from Open Source with Christopher Lydon. It’s a commitment, listening to podcasts like this, because they take time, are really engaging and challenging, and absorbing. 

There was one more thing that might be a reason for the week to pass the way it did was a simple epiphany. I was talking with one of our kids who is in school and finding things a challenge. She started in on how difficult things were, especially with an upcoming exam. I sympathized, of course, and walked away. 

Then it occurred to me that school is difficult, and it should be challenging, taxing, engaging, and a little anxiety invoking. And I had to ask myself, what makes anyone think anything differently about learning? And then I asked myself, what makes anyone think that living through the coronavirus should be anything but difficult and challenging? Should that be a surprise, and yet, everyone is acting as if things should be different, less difficult and challenging. 

And after that I came across an article from the NY Times’s David Leonhardt’s Morning Newsletter on “Bad News Bias.” It’s worth taking a look at this one. To summarize, a recent study of news media across the global finds that American news media focus on the negative, because, get this, readers prefer news about negative developments rather than news on more positive developments. 

Maybe the week sped by because there was engagement with others, a consistent pattern of thought that built from one insight to another that help me put things in some context. That works for me. Making sense of what is happening, putting it in its proper context and looking ahead with this new perspective is helpful, hopeful, engaging. 

Of course, it is a time of spring celebrations, especially from the religious traditions: Passover, this past Friday; Holy Week and Easter, this coming week; Ramadan, beginning the following week.  

Time to catch our collective breath, slow down, take things as they come—all with the weather getting better and better. 

Maybe, the week flew by simply because of the weather. Could be. Gotta love those crocuses popping up across lawns up and down our streets. 

Until next week! 

“Come Sunday morning” is intended to be a weekly review, a recounting of the past week and an anticipation of week to come. Among its features will be reviews of old and new books, sharing of favorite podcasts, some family news, Bristol events and happenings, and issues surrounding education, work and community journalism. He can be reached at dfortier@bristoledition.org.