Grace

Here they are, six feet up, on top of the monkey bars and basking in the glow of each other's company. Happy to just be and to share in the glory of the moment. A lesson in grace.

I just got off the phone with a friend who teaches ESL in a public school, whose students recently went through another round of unavoidable hours-long testing because of some No Child Left Behind provision aimed at accountability. As relative newcomers to the country, they naturally found taking a test designed for native-speakers pretty demoralizing.

And I couldn't help but think about all the young people I know, the friends that my discerning son is now starting to choose for himself. (Gone are the days when I could strap him into his car seat and just have him tag along to wherever I wanted to go; he now has opinions and requests in the matter.) And I have to say that so far I like his taste. He likes friends with active imaginations, friends who will climb and run with him, friends who will listen, friends who know that there's not really any such thing as "girl colors" and "boy colors."

He knows all his letters, and most of the sounds they make, but he hasn't really focused his energies on reading reading. His friend, E, pictured above, is finding some of the academic pieces of first grade really challenging. But they are each of them GREAT kids, and I cringe at the thought of either of them heading into school and coming out thinking that they're somehow "less than" because of some standardized test.

In friends, in co-workers, in random strangers on the sidewalk, I care about so much more than whatever those tests are trying to measure. Am I setting myself up for a slow march to insanity by earning my living as a college counselor, in a world where for so many those tests are the coin of the realm?

I am trying to teach my students about grace. I am trying to lean towards grace in my own life. And luckily for me, I am witness to daily examples of grace: in my son's deeply dimpled smiles, his unthinking and wordless songs as he skips along, and in his warm concern for the well-being of his friends.

(Thanks to the women of Mama Says Om
for their continuing inspiration.)

Common Ground Haiku

All day, strangers ask
each other, "Did you see it?"
Last night's heat lightning.

Four boys lined the bank,
each watching his line for signs
of hungry catfish.

(Thanks to the women of One Deep Breath
whose inspiring prompt this week ("Common Ground") helped me
realize that I'd experienced Sunday night's lightning
as an opportunity for connection,
which in turn led me to write about common ground
in the heavens and in water.
And thanks to S, who made sure
that each boy would have his own rod
and then dug up some worms he knew
the catfish wouldn't be able to resist.)

Garden Memories

Blogfriend cloudscome is hosting a garden walk over at a wrung sponge today, and since I'm far away from home, I'm cheating and submitting a haiku and photo from a garden a few years back. But it IS strawberry season, so at least I'm cheating appropriately. :-)

Be Careful Out There

Doing some travelling this weekend? Take a second (okay, 30 seconds) to listen to NJ Governor Jon Corzine's new PSA:

Night Haiku

Late night walk –
spiderweb across my face –
caught for a moment.

D stayed over at a friend's house tonight. This enabled T to play a round of golf at the crack of dawn tomorrow before her root canal. (Welcome to this week's episode of "Sentences You Never Thought You'd Hear".)

On those rare occasions when we find ourselves with a boy-free night, we invariably take a little after-dark walk. Just because we can. T says that once D's twelve we can step out for a little walkabout after he's gone to bed and not worry about falling afoul of the law. Only seven more years to go.

Peonies

Water on the Brain

Today's WaPo has an article about parthenogenesis in sharks:

A team of American and Irish researchers have discovered that some female sharks can reproduce without having sex, the first time that scientists have found the unusual capacity in such an ancient vertebrate species.

Whoa.

Meanwhile, I'm starting to think about the onset of swimming season, and since the lovely folks at Delta never did find my luggage, it's time to go shopping over at Tactics.

Surfer's rash guards are just SO much cooler than regular old swim suits, don't you think?

Viewpoint Haiku

Stand at river's edge,
see the water as boys do –
irresistible.


(Thanks to the women of One Deep Breath
for their continuing inspiration.)

Bloom

What if every night
you slept with the knowledge
that the sun would come?

(Thank you to the women of Mama Says Om
for their continuing inspiration.)