I still have a vivid memory of this conversation. PF was a teacher who was too good and creative for the Pasadena school system. They didn't renew his contract, tired of his challenges to "the system." In one class he directed our successful and extraordinary efforts to elect a fictitious student to student body office!
At any rate, after he knew he wasn't coming back, he grew a beard. He started wearing sandals instead of shoes. A beatnik! I ran into him after school one day near the end of the term. I told him what a great teacher he was. I asked him if he had another job lined up. He said he was taking some time off. He was going to stay in a cabin in the mountains. He was going "to do some basic thinking." This is what I remember: to do some basic thinking.
I understand that today more than I did then. In fact, that's one of the reasons I'm here in a new blog. To do some basic thinking.
How to tell a story
