Super Value

Throughout my years of teaching I had the opportunity to be a part of many different committees. I would be lying if I said I enjoyed every meeting, every agenda and every committee member. What is true, however, is that I learned something from each gathering for the good or the bad.

One particular challenging committee I served on had the objective of reviewing whether the needs of gifted students were being met at the middle school level. Before I go any farther, it might be best if I come clean with my bias. I hate the word gifted as it implies that one child is superior to another based solely on one criteria point. Such a premise is a slippery slope, in my opinion.

Our committee was comprised of teachers, parents and district administrators. One of the committee members was a particular contentious and vocal mother of a student in the gifted program. She, of course, believed the needs of her little Einstein were not being met and it was time for a change. I am no stranger to such rants but her personality and unmitigated demands rubbed me the wrong way. My vow to keep my mouth shut and do my time was not long lived. I eventually spoke my piece, more than once, I'm afraid. Mama Bear had no time of day for me as I was "just a regular teacher" so I knew I was wasting oxygen speaking to her but it made me feel better. During one particular heated moment, Mama Bear made the statement, "Why is this district spending so much time on the regular kids. Everyone knows they will never save the world." Suffice it to say, I practically levitated from my seat.

Fast forward to today. Who are the folks we are asking to risk so much for us? Surely, we need scientists and researchers in a desperate way but it is also very clear that each person who shows up at an essential service job is putting their health and well-being on the line. The HVAC worker who fixes a furnace in a cold home, the grocery clerk who works with hundreds of people throughout the day, the nurse who takes a deep breath and goes in for another shift, the FedEx driver who faithfully delivers packages so we can shop from home, the caretaker at a senior living center who works with an extremely vulnerable population, and on and on it goes. I do not know their IQ levels but it doesn't matter one iota to me whether they are Mensa or not.

I may never cross paths with Mama Bear again but there is a part of me that feels justified after all these years. If we learn anything from our current world crisis, perhaps one lesson is to honor the value of others, regardless of an IQ rating, a prestigious job, a fat bank account or a lucrative sports career. I think Mr. Rogers got it right again when he said, "When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping'".

God bless the helpers and may we all be one of them.

Thanks to the folks at the greenhouse who are making sure we can
 dream of gardening days ahead.

Life on the Ledge

I am positioned in a way that is well suited for our newly quarantined world. I do not have little ones to care for. I am retired so I don't have to think about e-learning lessons. I am no longer on lots of committees so Zoom sessions are not necessary. I have a good supply of toilet paper thanks to my youth hostel operation. And Mother Hubbard's cupboard is still not bare.

And yet, I find myself slipping out on the ledge. I am a professional fretter and despite my head saying, "Stop It!", I allow myself to play mind games. Every little cough or sniffle, I talk myself into impending doom. Every phone call from my mother makes me worry about her well-being now that I cannot visit her in person. Each time I go to the grocery store I feel like I am playing a game of plague. I have no solutions to my excessive stewing but I am stumbling my way through a few strategies. Here are a few of them.

1) The Great British Baking Show (Netflix)--I have no intention of replicating any of the baking challenges given the contestants, but there is something very distracting about watching home bakers work their way through the challenges of constructing "show stoppers" and critical judging. The judges and moderators are fun to watch and, let's face it, British accents are entertaining for those of us living across the pond.

2) Geography--No, I haven't gone completely daft. Yet. I am, however, using an on-line game to help me brush up on my geographical knowledge. It is very humbling to say the least. I started with the United States and quickly discovered my knowledge deficit of states on the east coast. Where the heck is Delaware, anyway? I am not allowing myself to move to a new region until I have 100 percent accuracy. So far I have marched my way through the U.S., Canada, Central America, South America, Europe and Africa. I am ashamed to admit how pitiful my pre-tests are for each region. I am now working on Asia and getting stuck on all the "stans" and sovereign city-states. The whole process is just demanding enough to keep my mind distracted and I feel like I am accomplishing something without having to clean a closet.

3) Birds--No surprise on this one. I have to get my bird fix every day whether it is watching and listening to my neighborhood bird friends or watching my favorite nest cams from Cornell Labs. Currently, Cornell is featuring an osprey nest in Savannah, an osprey nest in Montana, an albatross nest in New Zealand, an owl nest in Indiana, two petrel nests in Bermuda and a hawk nest in New York. (By the way, I can find all those places on the map now.) I am also participating in Cornell's FeederWatch program so I turn in bird counts from my backyard feeder each week. And if I get really desperate, I could resurrect the Albatross dance my colleague and I used to torment others with. Look out TikTok.

One other strategy for my sanity is that I have stopped watching/reading the news. My ability to grab on to a nugget of doom and nurture it like a dung beetle with its treasure was not helping me cope. My husband is in charge of filtering any pertinent information my way. I now stick my head in the sand and do my part for the greater whole to the best of my ability.

Stay safe and be well, my friends.

This is what making a face mask looks like when sewing terrifies you: dishtowel, elastic from underwear waist band and gobs of fabric glue...enough to get your fingers glued to the project, several times.