Beside the Emerald Coast Sea in Pensacola

Digest No. 30 - February 2026

If you’re looking for the Commonplace section, a monthly post has been dedicated to the practice. You can check it out here: https://hadleyonfire.substack.com/t/commonplace-journal

February has been a whirlwind. And we did what many native Floridians did the first day the temperature broke 75: we went to the beach. The water was still cold, but it made for a beautiful sunset.

Photo taken by my second son, Spenser

On Reading & Researching & Writing

Because of my reading selections, I’m still working my way through Island of the World and Crime and Punishment. In the classroom, my students and I have exited the Inferno and made good progress into the Purgatorio. It has been a marvelous journey thus far.

I finally managed to submit one of my very overdue book reviews to the editor, so I will see if he needs any revisions made before it is published. I’m also working on two projects, an essay on John Colet and Classical Education and a conference talk on Mars and the Poetic. That latter project is for the upcoming Ciceronian Society conference, which I’m certain will be a wonderful event. My wife, Sarah Hadley, will also be presenting at the conference with me. So, if you haven’t registered yet, what’s stopping you?! Sign up here!

On Teaching & Family Life

Most of this month was dedicated to teaching responsibilities. We had eight seniors defend their thesis papers to a panel and an audience. We also welcomed Ravi Jain to our campus to speak on mathematics, science, and wonder.

Professor Jain speaking at our evening Parent Traditio series.

And we participated in the school’s annual Rhetoric Ball, which my eldest son was able to enjoy as tenth grader this year.

My eldest, my wife, and myself.

My eldest doing the right thing and dancing with his mother.

We closed out the month with a panel of alumni, speaking to our upper school students about the highs and lows of life after high school.

The former alumni pictured here consist of a auto body mechanic, an engineer, and a chiropractor who owns his practice. As it turns out, Classical Education is great for pretty much all vocations.

Fortunately, I do anticipate a slightly less busy March in the day-to-day operations at the school where I work.

At home, we’ve been playing the game Root, which has proven both more time-consuming and engaging than I had anticipated. I’m 2 out of 3 for victories at the moment, having won with the Woodland Alliance and the Vagabond proving the most effective for me thus far. I was close with the Marquise de Cat, but Son #3 overturned everything with his Lizard Cult. Since February is his birthday month, I will let it slide.

On another note, we will be amping things up at home soon as we prepare to welcome another Hadley to our fold. I’m pleased to say we are expecting a little girl this July. And the doctor says she is looking very healthy.

It will be a crazy Summer in the Hadley household, which I’ll have more to say about in future digests.

On Listening

My children have been prepping for piano competitions this week (And there is another one coming next week). So those are the songs currently lodged in my brain and recurring to me at the oddest moments. This is one that my eldest, Sullivan Hadley, has been working on (though he’s not using a player piano). It is a fascinating song, which is good when you listen to it repeatedly for days on end. If I’m not tired of it, then I doubt you will be either.