Stonewall and Me

Welcome to "The Gods Are Bored!" How much do you know about the American Civil War? All I'll say is that it was the only time I rooted for the Yankees.

When I was a little shaver, I used to ride my bike all the time on a road called "Stonewall Jackson's Way." The road was the route Jackson and his troops took to Antietam Battlefield.

Stonewall is a pretty interesting person to read about. Any biography will do. They all end the same way. He dies. Shot by his own troops when he became disoriented while wandering alone at night.

Stonewall Jackson's fatal failing was going without sleep. In battle-ready situations, he would stay awake three or four full days at a time ... or he would settle down to a one-hour nap and then be awake for 48 hours. Needless to say, he made many errors due to sleep deprivation. Including the one that got him shot.

I thought of Stonewall this morning.

You see, Wednesday evening was Back-to-School Night at the Vo-Tech. We teachers were there meeting and greeting parents and kids until 9:00 p.m.

 I don't know about you, but when I'm closely engaged with something into the evening hours, I have trouble getting to sleep when I get home. Exhausted as I was, I tossed and turned a bit.

Thursday morning I got up at 5:30 as usual. Except I had to be perky right away, because Spare had to get to school by 6:00 for a field trip (counting shore birds and razor blades at the Jersey beach).

So I dragged my desperately fatigued carcass to work. I opened my school email, and there was a cheery little missive from the superintendent: I would be getting a walk-through by the School Leadership Committee some time that morning.

Isn't that the way the world works, my friends? The minute you get a little worn-out, your boss sends six administrators to observe your class.

Whew. I saddled up Little Sorrel and rode straight into the breach.

At least I think I did. Truly I can't remember enough about this morning to say for certain how well I did.

Good night.