By Marvin Tunney

Summer Again

Mr. Murray was our 5^th grade teacher.  I remember one afternoon he took me and Booker T. Harris out to get the popcorn for our class party.  It was our last day of school before summer vacation.  I got to sit in the front seat of his car and had a swift view of New Orleans, way outside the familiarity of my native neighborhood.

The sun was shining and there seem to be more people walking along the streets on the sidewalks. 

Suddenly Mr. Murray said, “Boys, I want you to see something.  You both know that this is your last day of school and we will have a long summer vacation.”

I must have been daydreaming, because I woke up thinking about waves of water splashing up against old rocky walls of ancient prehistoric mountains. 

Mr. Murray said, “You see that shoe shine stand over there, on the corner with the green and white awning?   That’s where I will be working during the summer.  Both you boys must find your joy as you grow older.  You must continue your education and strive for something to do greater than teaching and shining shoes”. 

Mr. Murray and I locked eyes and he smiled as if he knew what I had been dreaming about.  Or was I dreaming?  It all seemed so real to me in that moment.  Did he see the sailing bubble we were in almost touching the edge of the rocky cliffs?  

Soon we were back at the school.  I don’t ever remember anyone getting out of the car to get the popcorn.

It wasn’t until the summer of 1985, while driving my tangerine color Toyota Corolla up the Pacific Coast Highway, once again I faced those scenic, prehistoric, ancient, rocky cliff mountains, falling majestically into the ocean.  I was spontaneously surprised and playfully excited to feel this moment again.   

I had just graduated from Calarts, on my way to teach my first dance class at Santa Barbara Community College. 

Tonight, I’m on Alaska Airlines, going home to Seattle to visit with my mom.  I always go home for my birthday, which is July 30^th.  I will be there for a week, then, I will be flying to Paris and Edinburgh, Scotland for the Theater Festival. 

I believe I found my joy in dancing, and my inspiration to teach.