Some cosmic Charlotte is weaving the words, "Some Year" into her web. Someone else is calling it the Anus Miserables (sic). And of course, comets are mythical harbingers of doom. Let's hope this one was just a little late rather than on time. And in my lifetime, this is the biggest and brightest comet. Because the events of biblical proportion are piling up. Plague. Locust (Africa and India). Flooding (China). Racial unrest. [The Killer Hornets weren't actually legit]. Sounds scary.
So, in our lives, we all have these crazy years where big things lead to major upheavals. And many of those have affected us individually more than this year has. A marriage and/or a first child, a life threatening disease or injury that takes us out of commission for an extended period of time. A religions epiphany that utterly upends things. Hitting bottom in an addiction and going through rehab and being sober. Lots of different ways our lives can be turned upside down. But collectively, this is "The Big One." Nothing has had this much of an impact in this little of a time on this many people, so that makes it unique. WWI and WW2, given the whole scope certainly rivals today, so far. As did, perhaps, the Great Depression. The pandemic of 1918-19? Not sure. But here we are, finding ourselves living through a historic moment. Enjoy it! Make it memorable! Deal with it! Embrace the suck, if in fact, your life is really sucking because of it (and many are, but many aren't). Mine, for example, is pretty chill, no major headaches so far, and I know that's a privilege and a gift.
Friday, July 17, 2020
Thursday, July 2, 2020
Open Eyes, Change your World
It's not like I opened my eyes so much as you opened my eyes,
You kept them squinty in my younger days, reared in invisible homogeneity,
Maybe a little Charlie Pride and Jimmy in the background,
You gave me a brain that dug science, humans weren't that exciting then to me.
Out there in the middle up by Canada, with nothing but books and a little TV
And a movie or two to show me something different,
They didn't even let me watch Roots -- too young, doncha know
But for me, that little wasn't enough, I wasn't thoughtful enough about that stuff
Because I never had to be, it was all out there in a state far far away and long ago
Entertainment, ideas learned like a language that you don't use, faded fast,
In the few incidents I was forced to face it, that time in that bar in Mississippi
Or was it Alabama? Louisiana? It was easy to forget without skin in the game
Like a broken finger after it heals, no big deal and good enough after
You'd throw something a little spectacular now and again,
But erratic and sporadic wasn't enough to make me feel you, you know
Rodney King came and went, then you sent OJ and Trayvon, the others between,
The conversation would flow and ebb, as regular as a tide, rocking me to sleep?
Didn't really register long term because me and my life didn't have the bandwidth
No doubt at every moment I'd've answered the questions with the right answer,
But intellect is not emotive, and so it remained theoretical because privilege,
Which I didn't ask for or even know I had, intellectual empathy is a fallacy,
I brushed you off in favor of my favorite endeavors, education and science
I had no idea it was right there on the other side of a gossamer film until...
You were right there now, and with time and normal abrasion, it shredded,
I could see you right there, and still! it was like a slow boil and other things,
Always the distractions, albeit compelling ones like family, job, avocations.
But you maybe got impatient years later, and threw us all in a blender,
Tied me down with coronavirus with too much time on the laptop,
Grabbed my head, turned it left and said look at George Floyd now, motherfucker,
"See? Do you feel me now?"
And because Rona roughed us all up and pried me open a little, got vulner-able,
I felt it enough this time, with the time to sit with it at home not working so much,
And me, because you let me have some time with those people before,
Those people I love from my teaching days in high school in central San Diego
Knowing now that was another (reverse) privilege not everyone gets
But everyone of privilege deserves, just as every everyone deserves my privilege.
You finally opened my eyes and let it go into my head, and this time pass through
To the rest of me, the legs and arms, and that's why this time it's different for me,
Taking me fifty-odd years to see and feel what no one should have to feel and that
Thirteen point four percent of us grok by age ten, insofar as a ten year old (or less)
Can fathom four hundred years of oppression on a people
So easy to say, "400 years of oppression," but knowing it's made up of the daily,
Continual and inexorable moments of mistreatment, part of the air in America.
As much as I can see this part, it's beyond my ken, and what little I do,
Tells me this is my
You kept them squinty in my younger days, reared in invisible homogeneity,
Maybe a little Charlie Pride and Jimmy in the background,
You gave me a brain that dug science, humans weren't that exciting then to me.
Out there in the middle up by Canada, with nothing but books and a little TV
And a movie or two to show me something different,
They didn't even let me watch Roots -- too young, doncha know
But for me, that little wasn't enough, I wasn't thoughtful enough about that stuff
Because I never had to be, it was all out there in a state far far away and long ago
Entertainment, ideas learned like a language that you don't use, faded fast,
In the few incidents I was forced to face it, that time in that bar in Mississippi
Or was it Alabama? Louisiana? It was easy to forget without skin in the game
Like a broken finger after it heals, no big deal and good enough after
You'd throw something a little spectacular now and again,
But erratic and sporadic wasn't enough to make me feel you, you know
Rodney King came and went, then you sent OJ and Trayvon, the others between,
The conversation would flow and ebb, as regular as a tide, rocking me to sleep?
Didn't really register long term because me and my life didn't have the bandwidth
No doubt at every moment I'd've answered the questions with the right answer,
But intellect is not emotive, and so it remained theoretical because privilege,
Which I didn't ask for or even know I had, intellectual empathy is a fallacy,
I brushed you off in favor of my favorite endeavors, education and science
I had no idea it was right there on the other side of a gossamer film until...
You were right there now, and with time and normal abrasion, it shredded,
I could see you right there, and still! it was like a slow boil and other things,
Always the distractions, albeit compelling ones like family, job, avocations.
But you maybe got impatient years later, and threw us all in a blender,
Tied me down with coronavirus with too much time on the laptop,
Grabbed my head, turned it left and said look at George Floyd now, motherfucker,
"See? Do you feel me now?"
And because Rona roughed us all up and pried me open a little, got vulner-able,
I felt it enough this time, with the time to sit with it at home not working so much,
And me, because you let me have some time with those people before,
Those people I love from my teaching days in high school in central San Diego
Knowing now that was another (reverse) privilege not everyone gets
But everyone of privilege deserves, just as every everyone deserves my privilege.
You finally opened my eyes and let it go into my head, and this time pass through
To the rest of me, the legs and arms, and that's why this time it's different for me,
Taking me fifty-odd years to see and feel what no one should have to feel and that
Thirteen point four percent of us grok by age ten, insofar as a ten year old (or less)
Can fathom four hundred years of oppression on a people
So easy to say, "400 years of oppression," but knowing it's made up of the daily,
Continual and inexorable moments of mistreatment, part of the air in America.
As much as I can see this part, it's beyond my ken, and what little I do,
Tells me this is my
Wednesday, July 1, 2020
Kid's Going to School
You remember that scene in the Titanic after it sank and the survivors (so far) are looking for a little flotsam to hang onto? It feels a little like that. And we're already tired. That's district and school staff trying to figure out how to open next year.
People who know kids best, and people who know what happened during the first stab at distance learning with their students' behavior, attitude and academic performance are going to try to figure out how best to have school this year.
They're teachers and school administrators and parents (teachers and administrators have their own kids in school, too, you know). And they know about running a school, although in the circumstances, they're just using their best judgment to navigate this newness. They also don't want to get sick with coronavirus. They don't want your kids to get it and take it home.
Based on that, and wanting to teach your kids the best they can, they're going to come up with some solutions (there are a million ways to do this). Most plans I've heard include more than one option for parents. If you think principals aren't stressed out of their minds and overwhelmed, guess again. We're ALL in over our heads, trying to find a lifeboat.
So, about that, chill out and do what you need to do for your family. Stay informed, your school/ district website for the latest. If your kid's (or kids') school(s) have a choice you can live with, take it. If you need to put your kid in a different school, or enroll them in a charter that matches your preferences, or home-school them, or or find a private school or something else that better suits their/your needs, then just do it and don't waste your time regretting or second-guessing yourself. There are no right answers here (just like life in general). There are just different choices. We all have different comfort levels for risk, and different situations at home. But, be thoughtful. You know your kids (ask them, listen to them, talk about it a lot) but you make the decision for the younger ones. Respect their struggles and needs and wants, but that doesn't mean you give in to unhealthy choices for them. Time to adult, again.
This won't be easy for anyone.
And if you change your mind when school starts, do what you can to change the your situation. How can you know now what it will actually be like when it starts? I don't. Here's what won't help: shrill anger, blaming, wringing your hands and gnashing your teeth, despair, worry, ignorance. Here's what will: forbearance, fortitude, flexibility, knowledge, understanding, tolerance, grace, informed conviction, self care for you and your family.
You can make your voice known, participate in the planning if you can, network, discuss it with other parents, teachers, others. Don't let someone make you feel bad about your choice, but keep your mind open to other possibilities as you learn more. And here's wishing you a dollop of good luck.
People who know kids best, and people who know what happened during the first stab at distance learning with their students' behavior, attitude and academic performance are going to try to figure out how best to have school this year.
They're teachers and school administrators and parents (teachers and administrators have their own kids in school, too, you know). And they know about running a school, although in the circumstances, they're just using their best judgment to navigate this newness. They also don't want to get sick with coronavirus. They don't want your kids to get it and take it home.
Based on that, and wanting to teach your kids the best they can, they're going to come up with some solutions (there are a million ways to do this). Most plans I've heard include more than one option for parents. If you think principals aren't stressed out of their minds and overwhelmed, guess again. We're ALL in over our heads, trying to find a lifeboat.
So, about that, chill out and do what you need to do for your family. Stay informed, your school/ district website for the latest. If your kid's (or kids') school(s) have a choice you can live with, take it. If you need to put your kid in a different school, or enroll them in a charter that matches your preferences, or home-school them, or or find a private school or something else that better suits their/your needs, then just do it and don't waste your time regretting or second-guessing yourself. There are no right answers here (just like life in general). There are just different choices. We all have different comfort levels for risk, and different situations at home. But, be thoughtful. You know your kids (ask them, listen to them, talk about it a lot) but you make the decision for the younger ones. Respect their struggles and needs and wants, but that doesn't mean you give in to unhealthy choices for them. Time to adult, again.
This won't be easy for anyone.
And if you change your mind when school starts, do what you can to change the your situation. How can you know now what it will actually be like when it starts? I don't. Here's what won't help: shrill anger, blaming, wringing your hands and gnashing your teeth, despair, worry, ignorance. Here's what will: forbearance, fortitude, flexibility, knowledge, understanding, tolerance, grace, informed conviction, self care for you and your family.
You can make your voice known, participate in the planning if you can, network, discuss it with other parents, teachers, others. Don't let someone make you feel bad about your choice, but keep your mind open to other possibilities as you learn more. And here's wishing you a dollop of good luck.
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