Today, Labor Day, marks the unofficial end of summer. Sure, we technically have until the equinox in mid-September or until you feel a fall crispness in the air (mid-November in Atlanta), but by tomorrow, teachers everywhere will be back at work.* I feel the need to mark this end to my ultimate teacher summer with a tribute to my very own AT.
We've been back in the country for a while now and both had to travel-detox. For me, that meant going back to teaching, writing my dissertation, and binge-watching all four seasons of Scandal. For AT that has meant minor kidney stone surgery** and recuperation, finding out what UK did all those months, and binge-watching Shameless.
Now that there is some distance between myself and "The Most Amazing Trip Ever," I'm ready to reflect. I am glad we went everywhere we went. I encourage every single one of you to go to Cambodia as soon as possible and see Angkor Wat. I want to go back to Tokyo with a suitcase of only blue, black, and white dress clothes*** so I can fit in properly (or at least better) and spend quality time in the many different neighborhoods. I would go back to the Middle East but it's going to take some time and an unfortunate side effect of this trip is my new opinion on school dress codes. I've already started planning 2016 in South America and I can't wait.
The biggest takeaway from the trip is what an amazing person, aunt, and travel companion AT is. Let it be known that she planned every single thing on this trip and enjoyed doing it. This is great news for someone like myself who loves to travel and not to plan. AT graciously revisited places she had already been to give me the experience of seeing it for myself. Yes, she repeated countries for me. That is true love.
AT let me walk her up and down cities and towns to see temples and museums and who knows what. She was a super trooper in an Israeli emergency room visit and generally suffered some pretty serious pain in the last few weeks while usually saying it was fine. She bought more blankets than you can imagine are possible and, thankfully, encouraged me to buy too many of my own.
She is amazing and I am the luckiest.
I am also the worst because I'm going to honor her with more pictures of her in hats.
Devoted blog readers will recall a previous post memorializing some fantastic hats over the years. AT will tell you herself, she does not have a real 'hat head.' She does, however, like to fill her niece with joy and will occasionally put on a hat just to make me smile. These are those pictures. Please enjoy them with the ridiculousness that is intended. May you all find your own AT who goes out of her way to bring the world so much happiness.
A store in Tokyo
Conquering Angkor Wat with Indiana Jones style
A temple in Delhi OR that time AT joined a biker gang
Red hat society!
Well, we all can look ridiculous. I still don't know why Dad didn't buy this turban.
Our best Jackie O
O-man, I wish she had gotten this one.
Full abaya-glam
OK, actually, I think we look pretty great here. The deserts of Jordan really suit us.
A beautiful felted hat in Istanbul that, oddly, was not purchased.
Happy fall, everyone, and may there be plenty more pictures of AT in hats to come!
-KT
*Let it be known that my Georgia students will be starting their sixth week back at school. That's right. We'll be giving report cards while most of the country is giving out their syllabi.
**Turns out that was not food poisoning. Our apologies, India.
***I still won't do the pantyhose. Sorry, Japan.
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