It's On Again

So much has happened since Early March of 2018 when last we went to Scotland, MD for our annual Oscar weekend. That year Treat drove down from Western Massachusetts, Mom flew in from Minnesota, Kyle took a day off from high school and flew up from Florida, Victor brought his new girlfriend, Emily, and Josh took the weekend off from finishing his senior project. The ten of us spent a windy weekend on the western shore of the Chesapeake. 

One of many highlights was when Emily (prime) and Heidi bought several pairs of leggings at a cute little shop in Leonardtown and everyone wore them to dinner that night. The boys were especially impressed by how comfortable they were. "How is it I've never worn leggings before?" asked Josh. "I think I shall never wear anything else."

Things have changed a lot since then: Victor and Emily are married and living in Iceland, Kyle is a welder, Josh lives in Colorado, there's been a global pandemic, and we miss my mom every day. Four years later, though, we've got a place at the beach in Southern Maryland again for this year's Oscars in late March. And although we will be missing half of our group from 2018, they will certainly be with us in spirit, and as my brother rightly said, "after much disruption high time".

What Else Would it Be?

Since we're in the middle of this media literacy unit and spending so much time focusing on commercials, I asked the young ad execs to post the make of a car they like as well as its slogan. No surprise, but those auto companies have some effective catch phrases, which can be useful models. In addition to Toyota: Let's go places, and Jeep: Go anywhere, do anything, I kind of liked Maserati: Excellence through passion, and of course, Subaru: Confidence in motion.

As for the sixth graders, the most popular car was Tesla, Drive free; one out of seven of the kids chose it, which is pretty good considering the number of car makers out there. A couple of choices that made me laugh were Lightning McQueen from the movie Cars, Kachow, as well as his buddy Mater, I can't fix it, but I can make your horn louder. 

And as if the fact that Tesla was the most popular wasn't enough to remind one how far we have entered the 21st century, 2 students chose the new flying car. "What's their slogan?" I asked.

"I don't know," answered one kid. "I think it might be, It's finally here!" and while I couldn't find independent confirmation of that, it seems just right.

The Best Medecine

I ran into a dear neighbor of ours when I took Lucy out for a walk this evening. She has been battling cancer and working full time, and it's been a while since we caught up. She filled me in on her treatment's progress and woes, and all I could do was lend a sympathetic ear and offer my support. She seemed tired, but resolute, and funny as ever.

"Isn't your birthday coming up?" I asked.

"Yep, next week," she answered brightly. "Do you think I could get some hair?"

"For sure," I nodded, "but you'll have to wait. It's on backorder."

"Right," she laughed. "Supply chain issues."

Nobody Wants That

One of my homeroom students, who is an English language learner, was explaining to me why she couldn't stay after school that afternoon. "I have to go somewhere and I don't want to get laid," she said in a Spanish accent.

My eyes widened and my brows shot up as I tried to process what she was telling me. Then I got it. "In English we say 'be late'," I told her. "You don't want to be late."

"Right," she said, "I don't want that!"

For sure.

Uncomfortable Privilege

On my way to work this morning, I heard a piece on NPR about a proposed law in Florida shielding people from any required training or education that might cause them discomfort because of "race, color, sex, or national origin." The text of the bill specifically mentions inherent racism, privilege, and "adverse treatment to achieve diversity, equity, or inclusion."

But the kicker can be found in this section which makes it unlawful if "an individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of his or her race, color, sex, or national origin," which basically criminalizes anything that might trigger white fragility.

I mentioned the law to my homeroom during a lesson on Black History Month. 

"That seems wrong," said one student, "but what can we do? We're not in Florida."

"Well," I answered, "some people who disagree strongly enough with the law might boycott Florida."

"But I like Florida!" said another student sadly.

"A lot of people do," I agreed, "but everyone has to follow their conscience."

"Well," he sighed, "at least we still have the Bahamas."

Batting 1000 on 500s

In advance of having foot surgery Heidi proactively ordered herself some jigsaw puzzles to help wile away the time that she would be immobile. If anything at all, we are generally 1000 piece puzzle people-- those seem standard in the sense that they are the ones my family did when we were kids; they are the ones we see most frequently at the vacation homes we rent, and they are the ones that we have done on this recent puzzle kick. 

And yet, when she was shopping, there were a few 500 piece puzzles that looked fun and intriguing. One was on dogs of the world, another was a flower shop with a black lab sitting in the doorway. On Saturday morning, we pulled out Dogs of the World, propped up Heidi's foot on one of the dining room chairs, and started sorting pieces. It was not an easy puzzle, but it was very manageable, and after a fun couple of hours, done.

"I kind of like these 500 piecers," I told Heidi. "They seem to require a much shorter time commitment, but they are still challenging."

The next day we tested the theory and assembled the Wonder & Bloom puzzle. That one only took a few hours as well. I think we may have entered a new phase of this hobby!

Sliding Forward

So, I was telling my neighbor about the whole curling-Cortina conversation I had with my TA, and she told me that if I was serious about curling, she knew of a place where we could go and curl! 

"I think it's kind of like a bowling alley with ice," she said.

"I assume you can rent the shoes then," I noted, "because those are definitely clutch." I laughed. "I'm in! Just tell me where and when!"

Because? If I actually go curling? Can a trip to Cortina be far behind?"