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I harp on my students about using transition words to help their writing to be smooth, and then, once they get it down, I want them to move away from: first, next, finally. It is a difficult concept for most of them, no matter how old they are to grasp the fundamentals, let alone be more sophisticated.

I got to thinking about transitions in life and how difficult they can be. Is it because they are too abrupt or too overused? Would it be easier if they were deeper or embedded somehow so that we would barely notice they were there, but they would still move us right along to the next place we needed to be or the next thing we needed to do?

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Maybe.

I’m in the midst of a transition to full-time on-line teaching work. This is my last week of commenting 120 miles a day to teach at Brush High School. It’s been a difficult transition for me, even though I made the decision several months ago. Keeping my teaching jobs this year has been a challenge. Even so, goodbyes are difficult.

I’ve tried to combat this some by delving into summer hiking season as a transition. Elaine and I have already planned hike number one and I look forward to all our mountain adventures, of getting back into altitude shape, of discovering that together we can do more than we ever thought possible, of long conversations with short wind to solve the problems of our worlds, and of friendship that feeds the spirit.