What a Morning!
One of the classes I am taking this semester in pursuit of my MFA in Creative Nonfiction Writing degree at Bay Path University is Introduction to Publishing. One of our class assignments for this course was to interview an employee at the Beacon Press in Boston, and the person I was assigned to interview was Daniel Barks, the Reprint & Digital Production Manager.
The morning Daniel was available for an interview happened to be the same morning that my son's school had "Bring Your Dad to School Day." The interview was scheduled for 9:30, and Isaiah and I got into his school at 8:30, had a quick "breakfast" comprised of a doughnut and juice, and then we boogied up to his classroom at the top floor of Central Ridge Elementary School in Citrus Springs, Florida, where the teacher began to lead the class in an activity for both students and dads.
The whole time I was working with Isaiah on this activity, I was watching the clock. The school was 10 minutes away from my house, but it would take five minutes just to get from the top floor of the school out to my car. I didn't want to short-change Isaiah, who was tickled pink that I was there, but I had to be ready to interview Daniel by 9:30.
By 9:20, I broke Isaiah's heart, and I said my goodbye to the teacher. Five minutes later I was in my car, but I knew there was no chance I could make it home. Fortunately, I had brought both my cell phone and my handy dandy laptop with me, and by using the wifi hotspot on the phone, I could log into Bay Path's email, find the phone number to call Daniel, and no one would need to know what a chaotic morning I was having.
The question then became, where should I go to do this interview? Staying at the school was not a great option, because other parents would undoubtedly be leaving to go to work, and I did not want the noise to be a distraction.
As I drove down Citrus Springs Blvd, inspiration struck. Less than a mile down the road from the school was the Citrus Springs Trailhead of the Withlacoochee Trail, a hiking and biking trail that runs along 50 miles of land where railroad tracks once were. By this time of the morning, most of the hikers and bikers were already on the trail, so I zipped down into the parking lot, found a nice shady spot under a pine tree, logged into the classroom, and at 9:29 a.m. I dialed the number for Daniel Barks' number at Beacon Press.
Want to read more about the actual interview? Stay tuned, true believers. That blog post must be written by the end of the semester in December!
The morning Daniel was available for an interview happened to be the same morning that my son's school had "Bring Your Dad to School Day." The interview was scheduled for 9:30, and Isaiah and I got into his school at 8:30, had a quick "breakfast" comprised of a doughnut and juice, and then we boogied up to his classroom at the top floor of Central Ridge Elementary School in Citrus Springs, Florida, where the teacher began to lead the class in an activity for both students and dads.
The whole time I was working with Isaiah on this activity, I was watching the clock. The school was 10 minutes away from my house, but it would take five minutes just to get from the top floor of the school out to my car. I didn't want to short-change Isaiah, who was tickled pink that I was there, but I had to be ready to interview Daniel by 9:30.
By 9:20, I broke Isaiah's heart, and I said my goodbye to the teacher. Five minutes later I was in my car, but I knew there was no chance I could make it home. Fortunately, I had brought both my cell phone and my handy dandy laptop with me, and by using the wifi hotspot on the phone, I could log into Bay Path's email, find the phone number to call Daniel, and no one would need to know what a chaotic morning I was having.
The question then became, where should I go to do this interview? Staying at the school was not a great option, because other parents would undoubtedly be leaving to go to work, and I did not want the noise to be a distraction.
As I drove down Citrus Springs Blvd, inspiration struck. Less than a mile down the road from the school was the Citrus Springs Trailhead of the Withlacoochee Trail, a hiking and biking trail that runs along 50 miles of land where railroad tracks once were. By this time of the morning, most of the hikers and bikers were already on the trail, so I zipped down into the parking lot, found a nice shady spot under a pine tree, logged into the classroom, and at 9:29 a.m. I dialed the number for Daniel Barks' number at Beacon Press.
Want to read more about the actual interview? Stay tuned, true believers. That blog post must be written by the end of the semester in December!
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