Winding down

58

One day while driving into Leadville I noticed there are automobiles in a junkyard on the south end of Leadville that are surely closer in date to the town’s historic Silver Rush of 1879 than to the present. Reflecting on this pile of rusting steel hulls drove home the notion of time being so fleeting. The Silver Rush feels like ancient history; those cars — older than I — seem less than antique.

We occupy such a short space of time, and the real puzzle is what we choose to do with this time. The past nine months, indeed 19 years, seemed like a strange dream. What is worthwhile? Was I creating anything authentic? What was I doing with my time?

Mostly I was bouncing between coaching track meets, track practices, home, and CMC. Time was running out on the semester and school year. Signs in the residence hall alerted everyone that they needed to be moved out by noon Friday, May 5, the day after finals week ended.

There was time to fit in some entertainment. One weekend my friend Don Conoscenti was playing backup for singer-songwriter Ellis Paul at the A Church in Salida. Don is an outstanding lyricist and guitarist. I got tickets and arranged for Mary and Harrison to meet me on the way back from coaching a track meet in the San Luis Valley. It was an amazing evening and Don got to play a couple of his own songs. He dedicated one called “That Train” to Harrison. One of the lyrics from that tune always hits home:

“If you build your dreams from glass and steel
Sand and rust, is all your life becomes.”

These final weeks included registration for fall classes. There also was a meeting with Evan and Jen to plan for the next year. I could see a need to reduce Harrison’s academic load, especially since he would be starting a job at Community Threads in Leadville that fall. An associate degree in general studies now appeared realistic but he needed to fulfill some requirements to stay on track.

One of these was either a math or a science class. After a discussion with Paloma, the academic advisor, we decided to enroll Harrison in Environmental Science. A welding class called Design, Layout and Fabrication was being offered, so we signed him up for that, as well as another Psychology class. He still needed one more credit hour to run on the team without a waiver, so we rounded out his schedule with Outdoor Gear Repair.

Harrison really wanted to move upstairs in the residence hall the next year. So I requested a corner room on the second floor. My thinking was a corner had only one common wall so would cut down on Harrison disturbing other students.

But first we would have to move out of this room. I could see there was no way to move all of Harrison’s furnishings in one trip, much less load it all, clean the room and check out, all in one morning. We had brought most of this stuff up in two vehicles nine months ago, and had added more furnishings since. I began to think about what things I could bring home early on my trips up and back. There were not many trips left, and time was flying.

Certainly, I was done skiing for the year and so I could bring the ski gear back. Likewise, snowshoes could go home. I went through Harrison’s coats and clothing and pared it down to essentials. I packed up his guitar. I rolled up rugs and brought them home. We began to take down decorations on his wall and go through his desk drawers. The floor lamp could go early. It was amazing how much stuff we had accumulated in such a small space. Packing up these belongings we’d brought to the college along with hopes and possibilities for his first year was a bittersweet task.

Really, all he needed were casual clothes for school, his welding outfit and running gear. His coffeemaker and fridge, a couple towels and toiletry items were essential. We’d need cleaning supplies for the final move-out.

Meanwhile Harrison’s final projects in Psychology and Multicultural Ed were in the polishing stage, and his Fabrication project — the welding table for Ski Operations — was nearly complete. He did not have track practice but was continuing to run daily to maintain his fitness, mental health and routine.

The only thing truly hanging — and worrisome — was the final exam in Psychology. Even though he had all the answers for the exam from practice quizzes — and also a near-photographic memory — it was going to be a challenge due to anxiety and his ability to relate to written questions under pressure and time constraints. He, along with Nate and Lexi who were also in the class, had made flash cards to study, and they said Harrison knew all the answers. But still I was concerned the test would not show what Harrison had actually learned.

It was all going to scream by so fast with everything due the final week, and his Psych final the last thing Thursday afternoon. Looking back the year had gone by like a whirlwind, though sometimes it seemed to be in slow motion. It had been a rocky ride at times but it appeared he could not possibly screw it up at this point.

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