A B.A. in Knight Errantry

My friend Jeff Nunokawa semi-famously uses Facebook notes to publish mini-essays that meditate on quotes, concepts, faces, photos, or whatever else sparks an interesting thought. The one from this morning really paused me for a moment. It looks like it sparked by a plate with an illustration of Don Quixote on it that he saw at a tourist trap somewhere in his travels. I've always found the image or the recollection of Don Quixote gives me a little thrill up my spine, so it still speaks to me even from a cheesy decorative plate. To believe in something so impractically noble and to pursue it to the point of delusion is simultaneously laughable and deeply inspiring. What is more literary than the ridiculous shaking hands with the sublime?

Besides, if he sits around, tight and quiet, worrying about the daily dividends of his dream-work (what are you going to do with a B.A. in Knight Errantry?) or what others think of his devotion to it, he might well miss his chance when his turn comes to stand and speak the wake-up call.

For Jeff this morning to catch that feeling so perfectly, right when I was thinking—as I do on some cool Tuesday mornings when I pass the lake and wish I could stop and photograph herons in the dawn fog instead of going to school—that teaching English is a sort of perpetual windmill-tilt, well it was a little piece of magic.

So I think I'll keep working towards my M.A. in Knight Errantry. I'll drop a little Chaucer on the seniors and a little Steinbeck on the Freshmen. I'll pretend that it matters every minute instead of worrying about the daily dividends, and I'll accept the indignity of the occasional unhorsing so I can be ready when my turn comes to stand and speak the wake-up call.