Justin wasn't paying much attention in school. His mind was his science project, attempting to dig a hole to China. He heard from his father, Mr. Anderson, that if a person dug a hole deep enough, the hole would go through the center of the earth and end up in China. A ridiculous claim, thought Justin, except on the third day of school, he secretly accepted his father's challenge (though a challenge it was not because his father was a very strict man who would not have appreciated his son attempting to dig a hole in the back yard that reached through the center of the earth, since all boys who dig in the backyard will ultimately bring into the house, on the soles of their tennis shoes, the most unimaginable mess of dirt and clay), went into the garage when his mother and father were fighting in the pantry, grabbed a shovel and started to dig a hole in the back corner of the yard, right next to the garden tomatoes.

Justin worked for most of an hour before he decided he needed some lemonade, or any other cool drink from the kitchen. He put his shovel down, stepped to the porch and carefully removed his shoes. He crossed the kitchen, leaving no trail of dirt on the hardwood floor, and dug through the refrigerator looking for his lemonade. When he closed the fridge door, he poked the straw through the pouch and began to sip. He started across the kitchen and looked towards the stairwell, where he spotted his mother on the steps, shaking like she would when she cried, with her hands blotting out her eyes. Justin exited the back door.

"What are you doin?" asked Billy, the next door neighbor kid who only started to talk to Justin a few weeks ago when his family got the black lab, Roger.

"Digging a hole to China."

"Why you doin that?"

"My dad said if you dig a hole deep enough, you would poke through to China. Except when he said 'you' he was talking to me. I just started the hole today. Wanna see?"

"Sure!" Billie went the long way around the fence. When he stepped next to the hole, he said, "That's nothing. You ain't goin' to China in that hole."

Justin looked at the hole, barely deeper than his shoes, and started to shovel again. Shovel, press, throw. He liked the sound the motions made and began to create a sort of song lyric in his head. Shovel, press, throw.

When his hands were tired, he invited Billie to try it some. Billie snapped off the grass, took the shovel from Justin and started to whack the blade of the shovel against the ground. "NO!" cried Justin. "It's like this..." and Justin took the shovel and showed the younger neighbor how to dig the blade into the dirt, press it down a bit with the heel of the foot, then throw off the dirt in a pile, just to the left of the tomato plants. After a few minutes, Billie started to shovel with more skill. He even added to the pile of dirt, approximately in the center of the growing mound.

They switched shoveling for another hour, until it was time for Billie to go home for supper.

"See you tomorrow?" asked Billie.

"Sure," said Justin. "I'll be out tomorrow after school."

When Justin went inside, he stripped off his shoes and made his way to the sink. While he was washing his hands, his father said, "Thank you for cleaning up before supper. What made you so responsible today?"

"I don't know, dad. I just like to take care of myself."

Justin removed the food from the microwave, grabbed some forks, then asked, "Where's mom?"

"I'm not sure," replied Mr. Anderson.

Justin thought he heard the shower running upstairs. If she was in the shower again, and if it was like last week, she would not be out for another hour.

"Let's plan on eating alone, Justin. You're mother is not feeling well."

The next day at school Justin thought about the hole constantly. He wanted to finish the hole tomorrow or at least over the weekend. He knew that his father's claim was specious, but he treated the challenge as quite real. He thought about the hole in first hour, and again at P.E., and later during social studies and then at math. Why does the square root of 64 matter if I can dig a hole to China, he thought. I'll be an explorer. I'll be Ponce de Leon. I'll be the first person to make this hole. I'll be in the next history book, he hoped.

When he got off the school bus, he launched into the house and gave his mom a hug. "I love you mom."

"I love you too, Justie. We need to talk." She walked him over to the white sofa, the one by the bay window behind the piano. "Tomorrow I'm going to visit grandma."

"Okay, mom. Hey, I'm going to work in the backyard. I'm going to make a hole and discover..."

"That's wonderful, Justie. I need to take a nap." And his mother shook a pill out of her hand into her mouth and gave Justin a hug with both arms. "Go play now."

Once in the backyard, Justin saw Billie on his side of the fence, poking his head out of the screen door. "Hey Billie! Today I'm going deeper. Get some gloves and come over!"

Billie stepped out on the porch. "Do I have to get gloves?"

"Nah. I'll see if I can find a second pair in the garage."

Justin continued to started up on the hole.

It was his third time around the planet. Each time he looked down he saw a lifeless expanse, from the sand he could nearly touch to the horizon. He thought about the place he left, a land of water and rivers and willow trees and ants. A place of computers, robots, and technots, and where every fantasy can, in the neurons and synapses of the brain, register memory and make a man sweat. He thought about leaving Martha. He could not return.

The landscape below sped approximately at the rate of his ship, 630 kilometers per hour. He began to fire the forward thrusters and stabilizers, which would begin to slow the ship until he could touch down on the soft sand. The land would support the ship. He knew this because he watched the descent of his welcome probe 18 hours earlier, seeing it touch down and stretch its legs firmly into the ground.

This was better. A land of solace and death. He deserved this, he thought.

In six years he would transform the planet from sand and buried organic material to a planet which could support a small community of people. Ten years after that, he could greet thousands to his planet, which would then have atmosphere, rain, and a sky that would be between the color of cobalt and turquoise. That is, if he landed with care. And if he set up a sublunary communicator. And if he perched his ballast beacon toward Earth. If he cared to pack the ballast beacon. If he cared.

Disappointed by the fork in the road, the traveler picked up the utensil and stuck it in his pocket. He imagined on his walk the next time he would spot a fork in the road. That time, he thought, he would place it in his other pocket.

Congratulating himself on his attentive planning, he began a careful plan to spot forks in the road.

She was a dusty girl from Tulsa. He was a scotch drinker from Sioux Falls. They leaned over the table at each other and spoke over a score of Jackson Browne, Stevie Wonder, Stevie Nicks, and Sade. She wondered if they could sip drinks slower and make the conversation last until dawn. She wondered if they would sip coffee in the morning. This morning. Tomorrow morning. For the rest of her life. He thought about his ex wife. His mistake. Juggling emotions, plates falling, broken pieces all over the floor.

They held hands. Spun to the beat of drums, trumpets, Lionel Ritche. All night long.

Exchanged cell phone numbers.

Doors closed. No mistake.

She walked left, towards the table next to the pay phone, and sat down next to Diane and Julie. He walked out and turned towards the sports bar. Crossed the street. Crossed his heart. Crossed his fingers. And returned to the the girl from Tulsa.

It's like this - After surprising my teachers, my wife, and myself, I finished with a M.A. in Education and thought I would get a teaching job in a public school with no problem. Then I thought I would accept a job at a private school or even tutoring at Sylvan. I don't want to post a lot about my trials and that is one reason I'm not writing a lot. Right now, I am substitute teaching and learning a lot of lessons. I am learning how to treat students well. I am learning to teach to students with short attention spans. I am learning that strategies that work with children with ADD or ADHD OR Asperger's syndrome will work with any child in the class. I have worked with disruptive students and "lost my cool". I have worked with distruptive children and smiled, laughed, sang a clean up song and thought "I could do this forever." I find that substitute teaching is not fair, since the substitute does not have the respect nor the credibility of the classroom teacher. But it is a necessary temporary vocation, especially when I realize how teachers have lives too. Teachers have homes and children and obligations. Teachers need to take days off and trust their students are going to be taught ... professionally.

I do not remember a single substitute teacher when I was growing up. I do not want to be substitute teaching. The work is difficult. The pay is appropriate, considering the supply and the demand. But I also care about students. I am not going to let students run the class. No. In fact, I have tried to establish some norms when I have worked in jobs more than one day.

I have not posted a lot in the past few months because I do not want my trials in this transition year to be open for examination. There are trails, yet I am strong enough to know that some principal, some school is going to be fortunate to land a surprising talent like myself. Conceited? Well, maybe confident. Confident enough with a sprinkle of humility. I am not am a perfect polished diamond, but I am a teacher. I am a good teacher. I am creative, prepared, spontaneous, willing to learn, energetic, intelligent and wise. And I am getting better every day.