We had a field trip to the state capital today. Good tour guides, well-behaved students, and nice weather all fell into place for us. I behaved, I didn’t say or do anything untoward in the governor’s conference room, and we had Starbucks for a pre-trip snack. And – you guessed it, I was reminded of this post. To sleep, perchance to dream.

I was tired the night before the field trip. I thought “Good. I’ll sleep well, be rested for the trip.” I didn’t think, “To sleep, perchance to dream.”

In my dream, we were on a trip to the Capitol for a tour. We had plenty of adults along, so I slipped out to get Starbucks for the teachers. Somehow, I got lost on the way to the coffee shop or on the way back. I’m not sure which. When I finally found the others, I was missing my jacket and my shoes. I was freezing and damp; rainy weather.

In real life:
We took a field trip to the Capitol building for a tour.
We had plenty of adults around; most were very good with the kids.
I didn’t slip out for coffee – for myself or the other teachers.
I waited for a student to run back to the bathroom for something she lost or forgot. When she got back, we got disoriented under the Capitol dome and ended up going out the wrong door. We walked around Capitol Square and eventually made our way to the museum, our next stop. The classes hadn’t gotten there yet, so we waited outside for the rest. The girl understood why we didn’t go back to circle Capitol Square; she knew we could end up circling and circling while they did the same.
It was breezy and cool, but neither of us lost a jacket. One girl misplaced her jacket on the bus, but found it later. To my knowledge, no one lost a shoe.

Maybe I’ll pull an all-nighter the night before the next field trip. I’m a little afraid of what I might dream before we go to the Civil War reenactment!

Today’s trip, like the one years ago, was uneventful. I waited in Starbucks (oh, such a sacrifice!) while my coworker parked the rental car. I met several of my students (I teach online). I bought two tee-shirts and three books in the gift shop (oh, those are dangerous places for me) but I did not buy any shoes. I came home tired and sore from the walking, but relaxed and happy from a fun and productive day.