Foreshadow

There was thunder rumbling in the distance when I stopped at the garden on my way home tonight, but after being away all weekend, I just wanted to check in on it. The padlock on the gate was sticky, and I had to shove it up and yank it down hard more than a couple times, but once in, the garden was like it almost always is, so green and so quiet.

How different this spring has been than last! Warm, but not too warm, rainy, but not too rainy, and where last year we had not a single tomato before August, tonight I was thrilled to see not only blossoms, but actual fruit on several of the plants. The squash vines are starting to spread through the rows as well, and the sunflower? It's over three feet tall. The place is full of flowers and berries and...

weeds! They love this weather, too. I spent perhaps 15 minutes tidying up and pulling a few of those unwelcomes, and then, knowing there was more to do but that soon there would be time enough to do it with dirty fingers and the taste of early raspberries in my mouth, I jiggled that recalcitrant lock open and then spun it closed and headed home.

Priorities

It was our annual talent show after school today, and I have to say that the rise of TV talent shows (think America's Got Talent, The Voice, American Idol, etc.) has certainly boosted the popularity (and variety) of our little production. Today we were treated to a couple hybrid gymnastic-dance routines, some singing-- both acapella and accompanied, a Bach cello piece, an awesome yo-yo routine, some comedy cup-stacking by an actual cup-stacking world champion, a lovely violin-guitar duet, and of course, a rendition of Don't Stop Believin'. 

The bravery, earnestness, and talent of these middle school kids is so amazing and moving (and funny!) that I wouldn't have missed the show for anything, which is probably why I totally spaced on the leadership team meeting I was supposed to attend...

In the Field

One thing I like about our end of the year field trip to an outdoor adventure park is that, since the activities are run by their professional guides, my role is really to observe. I get to watch the kids interact and try to problem-solve with their peers. Who will be leaders? Who will be connectors? Who will opt out? As well as I know them after a whole school year, there are always surprises.

I also get to play a little. Today, before I went zip-lining myself, I clipped each of the kids in my group into the safety line at the foot of the ladder, but not before we snapped a souvenir selfie.

Twelve pictures later, I have indisputable photographic evidence as to just how hard I was rocking that safety helmet. 

The Old Lady by the Fire

"Hey!" I said. "Who are you calling an old lady, Jonah and Ben?"

Jonah giggled, but Ben looked confused. He and I had never been introduced, but earlier I had chatted with his parents at length. "How do you know my name?" he demanded.

"Oh, I'm so old I know everything," I told him.

"No one knows everything!" he assured me.

"I'll prove it," I said. "Your name is Ben. You're seven years old. You're in first grade, but not for long... Wednesday is your last day of school."

"Did you hear me talking, or something?" he guessed.

"No," I answered, "but I also know you don't have any brothers or sisters, but you do have a puppy named Biscuit, and before you got him? His name was Richard."

He frowned. "How old are you, really, anyway?"

Cause for Celebration

I was sitting by the fire enjoying the darkening sky. Josh's graduation party was entering its ninth hour and going strong. In many ways it had been an idyllic day of family, friends, and fun. A gang of cousins and neighbor kids ran through the yard in their swimsuits, playing in the wading pool and squirting each other with pump guns. Folks came and left for other graduation parties and came back, floating inside and outside, eating and drinking and eating some more, tossing bean bags at the corn hole boards. Guitar, ukulele, harmonica jams popped up here and there mingling with the laughter and shouts of the kids, now with ice pops, now roasting hot dogs over the fire for their dinners. And now here I was, enjoying a tiny bit of quiet in the continuing whirl. Two small boys slammed out of the house and ran my way. They were on a mission to find an adult to supervise s'more making. In the dark, they didn't see me until they were almost there. "Look," cheered one to the other, "there's an old lady by the fire! Yay!"

Snark Attack

You might think that an educator, any educator, would be one to appreciate the ceremony, symbolism, and pomp of a graduation ceremony, but I can tell you that you would be wrong.

And yet, people graduate, people you really care about, and there you are, at the ceremony because you wouldn't miss celebrating their accomplishments for the world. But there is still that part of you that really doesn't like graduations, and so you might find yourself fidgeting in a scratchy theater seat making small talk with one of your godson's other aunts while idly flipping through the lengthy program until you happen upon a roll of faculty that includes not just the high school teachers, but the middle and elementary school, too. You sardonically wonder out loud why they have all those people listed. "Well," says the aunt, "I guess it's like they all worked together to get these kids where they are."

Not so crabby now, are ya?

The Measure of All Things

After a long couple of weeks of standardized testing that kicked off with reading, the sixth graders finally took their last test, math, today. At the height of testing madness this morning, after successfully defending my computer cart from others and feeding the students breakfast since they would be quite late to lunch, but when no hall proctors could be found to escort the full-bladdered kids in my group to the restroom, and neither could the testing coordinator be reached to restart a test that failed to submit because the lap top switched wireless networks mid-test, I met the principal on my way to find help. "Are all your students finished already?" she asked.

"Yes," I told her and stepped forward, intent on my mission.

"Oh, by the way," she said.

I turned.

"Congratulations!"

I stopped, mentally groping for the accomplishment she was referring to. She must have seen my confusion.

"On your reading test scores!" she clarified. "Great job!"

I know I managed a smile. "Thank you," I replied and continued on.