Rituals. We all have them - some born of church affiliations, some family traditions, and others just function as quirky parts of our lives...things we have always done and always will do for some unknown and frequently illogical reason. For me, reading Up the Down Staircase by Bel Kaufman occupied a few days each August before the beginning of the new school year. Talk about illogical. This had to be the worst possible book choice to get me back into teacher mode. The nervous, first year teacher navigating lesson plans, admirative directives, needy students, impulsive co-workers....she paints as pretty darn disarming picture of a single semester in a metropolitan school. Of course, rewards come the new teacher's way as well, but not without pain. I knew all this, still I read it every year.
Since leaving teaching, my admiration grows each year for those who continue to dedicate themselves to a changing profession. They are heroes,
I also question the logic of my second fall ritual, but I have yet to abandon it like I did my back to school book. I take a self scoring IQ test. I know what the result will be, yet I do it every September. I have almost memorized the questions by this time, and I try to trick the test each year, but the results are always the same. I am average. The Brain Game Book contains a number of frustrating, humiliating tests to take after the the IQ test. According to those goodies, my left hemisphere appears to be non-existent.. Moving on to the right hemisphere tests, I felt way more confident. Here, for sure, I would excel. Nope. Art judgement, creative associations, Perdue creativity test, perceptual motor ability, perceptive analysis - nothing to brag about there.
Chapter three looks at my analytical abilities, opposites, verbal skills, and chapter four plays around with recall of names, numbers, and gives me a recall/observation test. The book ends with four tests with intentional built-in distractions. There are twenty seven tests in all. Some take 40-60 minutes, some are limited to 10 minutes. I spend my September days filling in little circles, followed by checking answers, and grumbling about the fact that I am still average.
To be honest, I like this type of stuff - words games, visual puzzles, logic quests. Admit it, you have dabbled with jigsaw puzzles, crosswords, and sudoku during our Covid homing. My guess is that once the weather changes, and all your tomatoes have been canned, you will do an even deeper dive into these diversions.
My recent obsession is a book called Find the Cat Challenge. 125 pictures and each has a cat somewhere. Sounds easy but take a look at this picture. Where is that little stinker? I have spent way too much time searching...and will continue until I find them all.
So...gotta go. Cat 23 awaits!
Stay safe. Stay healthy. Stay happy.
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