June 06, 2008
I've had the itch to write recently, but haven't done so. As it turns out, I really appreciate feedback and comments, and no one does it. Well, no one but Meera. So, I figure I'll just write to her given that no one else finds the interest or ability to make a comment. You all are a bunch of lurkers, and should go somewhere else to practice your voyeurism. If you are too scared too put your words out there for others to read, then don't go looking for words from others to read...
Anyway, Meera, you really missed out today. This is one of the reasons we live here. My field trips as a kid (I think I have said this before) were fairly lame with only a couple of exceptions. Today, the entire third grade class from both elementary schools in the district went on a field trip. It freakin' rocked. We drove 10 miles from school, and boarded an old steam engine train to travel through the redwoods to Santa Cruz. The kids had a blast. They watched the redwoods pass as we ventured down the tracks, and when we got to Santa Cruz, they waved and yelled at those unfortunate commuters that were stopped by the tracks, most of which smiled and honked their horns at the passing kids. The weather was great. It was warm and sunny, although I confess that I was looking for ice floats in the water. That's right. I was in the water freezing my... stuff... off. You know what? I was the only parent out in the water that I saw. The kids were told that they could not go further than their knees in the water. Good grief. My kinship with the dolphin couldn't be a fluke (pun intended). So, I wandered out to stay with the kids that wanted a little more than knee coverage of the mighty Pacific. It would have been hypocritical of me to do otherwise, as I know I would have been the same way. I was arrogantly confident that I could grab a head of hair and bring it up to air fairly quickly. I never had to, but a couple of the kids that I was supervising were 'beached' for going out too far. The beacher never said anything to me, so I gave up and decided to go eat a sandwich and sit next to Annie after an hour of that.
I sat there and smiled more than I had in a long time. Watching these brilliant kids 'doing their thing' was wonderful. Despite my concerns about the world we live in, these kids will make it right. Ptolemy told me in the classroom that he purposely did not wear shorts because he did not want to go in the water. I saw in his eyes later that he at least wanted to get his feet wet, so I offered to roll up his jeans. Come on. No kid near the ocean can keep from getting wet. He refused at first even though I had just done that for a friend of his. He came back. "I changed my mind. Could you roll up my pants?" Sure. Ten minutes later he was one of the kids I was supervising fully submersed in the water. I managed to convince him to take his shirt off so I could wring it out and possibly have something warm to put on... followed by three other kids that thought that was a good idea. They were shivering so much I thought they were going to break their teeth. But you don't stop going in the water for something so trivial as cold water. It beckons. It seductively calls. Not to mention that running on the beach will warm the blood fairly quickly.
The cold sapped their strength and the train trip back was a little more subdued. I think the parents were also a little drained. One mother that I have known since Annie was in Kindergarten tried to use me as a leaning post. I told her that I would probably move during the tunnel and she would fall on the bench... She moved, knowing that I would never really do it. I am sure that Annie slept on her way to her mother's. My sweet pea had a good day. Believe it or not, we have another field trip on Monday. This one will also be great, but will require more exercise from them as we will be hiking through the coastal hills. Freakin' awesome. Maybe we will see some elephant seals!
These kids are amazing. I watch them interact. I see their problems. I see how they deal with them. Quite honestly, I don't worry so much about them. I think if they keep it up, they will fix what we screwed up. Kids: don't stop questioning. Don't stop thinking. Don't stop finding an answer that makes sense. "Because that's the way we have always done it" or "that's the way we do things" are horrible answers. Find your own answers, and realize that sometimes your parents are wrong... That includes me, Annie.
Feeling good, even after putting in a mortar bed after the field trip...
Anyway, Meera, you really missed out today. This is one of the reasons we live here. My field trips as a kid (I think I have said this before) were fairly lame with only a couple of exceptions. Today, the entire third grade class from both elementary schools in the district went on a field trip. It freakin' rocked. We drove 10 miles from school, and boarded an old steam engine train to travel through the redwoods to Santa Cruz. The kids had a blast. They watched the redwoods pass as we ventured down the tracks, and when we got to Santa Cruz, they waved and yelled at those unfortunate commuters that were stopped by the tracks, most of which smiled and honked their horns at the passing kids. The weather was great. It was warm and sunny, although I confess that I was looking for ice floats in the water. That's right. I was in the water freezing my... stuff... off. You know what? I was the only parent out in the water that I saw. The kids were told that they could not go further than their knees in the water. Good grief. My kinship with the dolphin couldn't be a fluke (pun intended). So, I wandered out to stay with the kids that wanted a little more than knee coverage of the mighty Pacific. It would have been hypocritical of me to do otherwise, as I know I would have been the same way. I was arrogantly confident that I could grab a head of hair and bring it up to air fairly quickly. I never had to, but a couple of the kids that I was supervising were 'beached' for going out too far. The beacher never said anything to me, so I gave up and decided to go eat a sandwich and sit next to Annie after an hour of that.
I sat there and smiled more than I had in a long time. Watching these brilliant kids 'doing their thing' was wonderful. Despite my concerns about the world we live in, these kids will make it right. Ptolemy told me in the classroom that he purposely did not wear shorts because he did not want to go in the water. I saw in his eyes later that he at least wanted to get his feet wet, so I offered to roll up his jeans. Come on. No kid near the ocean can keep from getting wet. He refused at first even though I had just done that for a friend of his. He came back. "I changed my mind. Could you roll up my pants?" Sure. Ten minutes later he was one of the kids I was supervising fully submersed in the water. I managed to convince him to take his shirt off so I could wring it out and possibly have something warm to put on... followed by three other kids that thought that was a good idea. They were shivering so much I thought they were going to break their teeth. But you don't stop going in the water for something so trivial as cold water. It beckons. It seductively calls. Not to mention that running on the beach will warm the blood fairly quickly.
The cold sapped their strength and the train trip back was a little more subdued. I think the parents were also a little drained. One mother that I have known since Annie was in Kindergarten tried to use me as a leaning post. I told her that I would probably move during the tunnel and she would fall on the bench... She moved, knowing that I would never really do it. I am sure that Annie slept on her way to her mother's. My sweet pea had a good day. Believe it or not, we have another field trip on Monday. This one will also be great, but will require more exercise from them as we will be hiking through the coastal hills. Freakin' awesome. Maybe we will see some elephant seals!
These kids are amazing. I watch them interact. I see their problems. I see how they deal with them. Quite honestly, I don't worry so much about them. I think if they keep it up, they will fix what we screwed up. Kids: don't stop questioning. Don't stop thinking. Don't stop finding an answer that makes sense. "Because that's the way we have always done it" or "that's the way we do things" are horrible answers. Find your own answers, and realize that sometimes your parents are wrong... That includes me, Annie.
Feeling good, even after putting in a mortar bed after the field trip...