Strange Ways

In the count-your-blessings department, all of my niece's aunts and uncles, as well as her grandmother are vaccinated and willing to travel to Atlanta to celebrate her Bat Mitzvah with her this coming weekend. On the flip side of the coin, planning to entertain out of town guests in COVID times has been challenging for my sister. Just today, she received a call from the restaurant with whom she had reserved a coveted covered patio space to let her know they were switching to a 4-or-6 course prix fixe menu that was really not a fit for our group. 

"You should call the manager," I suggested, but she told me it was the owner, a well-known chef, who had made the decision.

"We picked the place because of all the good work he has done in the food community during the pandemic," she told me, "and now we're stuck. It's disappointing."

"Maybe you could Tweet him," I said.

We brainstormed a few ideas, and eventually she crafted a <280 character message that she was pleased with. After we hung up, I tapped my Twitter icon for the first time in ages, eager to see her handiwork. Scanning my account before navigating over, I checked out my own mentions tab. There I found a Tweet from last May, from the parent of a student.

Above her daughters smiling face, she had posted: Blessings to the wonderful teachers @[ourschool] Thanks for your kindness! You made [my daughter] very happy! #teacherappreciation #QuarantineLife

Her daughter was holding an envelope with a note I had written and the small piece of candy I'd sent in recognition of the writing she had done after our school buildings had closed.

Exactly 11 months later, to the day? I feel the appreciation. And it makes a difference.

Pattern Recognition

"I hate the Oscar movies," Heidi said last night. "They are always, always depressing."

"Maybe this one won't be!" I answered.

It was.

Splash Down

It's been a chilly last few days here, more like March than April. Blustery winds blowing puffy white clouds across a bright blue sky have subsided to a cool gray evening, and the last fire of the season may even be crackling on our hearth this evening. 

But not to worry!

Our pool pass application came in the mail today.

Six weeks and counting.

The Best Medicine

For me, one thing that has definitely been missing from school lately is laughter. The concentration required to keep the necessary plates spinning leaves very little room for spontaneity. Add to that the natural disconnect of virtual interaction, without cameras, with kids you have never met in person and you get a bit of a humor dead zone. Or at least I have.

But today, in my last class of the day, with a lesson I had taught 4 times already, things lightened up a little bit.

Maybe it was "Fun Fact Friday", a tradition I instituted last week with this group because I see them every day, even with block scheduling, and so we need some extra chat snaps. The kids are invited to post any fun fact they know or can find, to school the rest of us. Today we learned that fish can cough, turtle are not silent, and there was a cat who went to college.

Moving on with the poetry lesson, I asked them to post their best definition of simile and metaphor. When Simile is the knock off version and metaphors are the brand you see in a well known store but never get popped up on my screen, I laughed out loud. 

Next it was to write some similes about homework, your best friend, and your family. Here's what we got:

My family are a bunch of wild banjos And yes i mean banjos 🪕 

Me and my best friend are like Mountain Dew and Doritos. 

Doing homework is as fun as smelling rocks 

Doing homework is like when your mom asks to see your phone. 

Doing my homework is as much fun as listening to my fish cough. 

When the bell rang, we were all laughing. 

I have to credit the co-educator I work with-- she and I have gone a long way to make our special education inclusion class a supportive place to learn. I also have to give props to the creative group of students we have in that class. Somehow, we make it work, and today? 

We made it fun.

Ba Dump Bump

The Chat Snap prompt of the day today was Tell us about your favorite animal. Use some poetry!  For the most part, the young poets were happy to play along. A little rhyme, a haiku, some similes and metaphors, perhaps even a quick acrostic poem-- that's all I was hoping for, but as always, there were a few kids who were reluctant to participate. 

"What's going on?" I asked one student who still hadn't posted 10 minutes or so into the class. 

"I can't think of anything," he said flatly.

"Well, what's your favorite animal?" I responded.

"Iguana."

"Oh! That's cool!" I told him. "Do you have an iguana?"

"No." he answered.

"Really?" I said. "Then do you wanna iguana?"

Perchance to Dream

Sometimes I listen to a meditation or podcast as I'm falling asleep. Quiet voices and music replace any restless thoughts or residual anxiety left over from the day: they help me fall asleep and stay asleep. One of my favorites is The Memory Palace. Created and hosted by Nate DiMeo, the show is an anthology, briefly told and beautifully written, of little-known true stories, each packing an emotional or intellectual punch at the end. 

I always make sure to go back and listen to every episode when I am awake, but at night, I set a timer for no more than 10 minutes, and Di Meo's soothing voice and elegant rhetoric calms my turbulent mind. Last night, I forgot the timer, and I woke in darkness after dreaming of voting rights, revolutions, starlings, and swans; I had sleep-listened to ten episodes. I tapped pause, and drifted back to sleep, which might have been dreamless or not.

Cat-astrophe Avoided

My phone chimed right before the class change this morning. I was a little anxious when I saw it was a message from our neighbor across the way, my imagination fabricating all sorts of local disasters that he might be reaching out to report. Fallen tree? Burst pipe? Sink hole? Break-in? Too much mail?

I anxiously tapped in my passcode and opened the app.

I wanted to tell you guys that I keep seeing your two cats in the window when I practice the piano. I love them!