A Quiet Thanksgiving

 

Birds in the Bamboo Watercolor by: Aoki

Sitting in my 150 square foot studio apartment, looking out a window. When the blinds are open, there are reminders of possibilities I hadn't considered. For one, letting the world come in a little. Thanksgiving is a few weeks away, and in normal years, aka before corona virus, a plan would magically formulate for a family gathering with little preparation on my part. Someone else would host, someone else would organize sleeping arrangements and elaborate shopping and cooking agendas. Being a 2nd grade teacher has given me a pass on those staples of the holiday. As my thoughts of a destination with a specific home in which to celebrate the feast dance through my mind, I see a distant flash of iridescent green. A little hummingbird investigates a leaf on a very tall bamboo plant, perhaps hoping for an edible reward. And since I'm lucky enough to have two windows within view, I see the same bird dash over to the bushy tree with sunny-side up looking blossoms. Maybe I can learn from her. Thanksgiving can be many small noshes in many beautiful nooks.   

Cheers!

Well, here I am all dressed up in my sequined sweater, obediently sitting with my cup of hot mead. OK, my family is doing a seder of sorts, and one of my jobs is to say the kiddush- blessing over the first glass of wine. Which traditionally is supposed to be red. But in these times of social distancing, it's wiser to use what is on hand. So an old bottle of chardonnay that's been sitting in my fridge for an unknown length of time will suffice. And since it's a little chilly in my apartment, why not heat it up, add some honey, and create my own mead? All this, with 7 minutes to go for the once a year seder, this time to be conducted over video conferencing. Good to have your priorities in check. The last time I drank a good (actually amazing) mead was when I took my mentee A. and her brother to the Dickens Faire in San Fransisco last winter. I wasn't planning on drinking anything potent, but why should the kids have all the fun? After an hour of watching them play darts in a perfect rendition of a 19th century London pub, I decided to break my fast and indulge. Well, it worked out well for me. As the kids were later playing a raucus game of toss the hammer, apparently I was cheering a little too loudly for A's tastes. "You're making a scene!" she scolded. This coming from a 5th grader, who just last year, as we sat in a Chinese restaurant waiting for our food, braced herself by holding tight to the edge of the table, puffed her cheeks out, and did a countdown.. for what could have been a very ill-mannered act, particularly to the quiet family off to the side trying to enjoy their buffet. Luckily I put the kibosh on the plan before any offensive sprays could disperse. And on this day, as I try to sign in to Zoom.. I realize something:  meetings that take place over multiple time zones are not my thing. I had another hour to go. No sense in wasting a nice warm mug of mead. L'Chaim and Chag Sameach. Wishing the world peace, serenity, hope, health, and your own cup of comfort.

Today's Top 8 List, March 27, 2020

I asked for comments and I got comments! Old school comments in the form of emails, texts, and in person feedback. Thank you dear friends and family members for your follow up! What I learned: lots of you like to dance, some of you wish my design would be more sensitive to the eyes, and one of you (you know who you are!!) is perplexed as to why I used an imposter roach to advertise this post about my own lovely arthropods. Vanity, is the simple answer. As much as I am fond of Little Cookie and Roblox- they really do look very roachy in photographs.

OK, on to today's topic: what I am grateful for today:

1. Ojai pixie tangerines

2. Mo Willems' daily livestream art lesson for children

3. Sunshine

4. Being almost done with report cards

5. Having report cards to do so I can feel useful

6. The big-eyed sloth stuffed animal one of my students gave me for Valentine's day- thank you Kelly.

7. A dry tickly cough due to allergies. That's my story, and I'm sticking with it.

8. Milkyboki youtube videos on how to lovingly play mind games with your pets.

That's it for today! Back to report cards. Love you guys, and feel free to share your own top 8 lists for today in the comments section of my blog (to help promote my rise to fame and fortune.)

New Times Call For New Friends

Note: This is NOT a Madagascar Hissing Cockroach

The view from my desk at home has changed. In addition to piles of papers filled with rosters of my 23 students and their various academic data results, there is now a full sized aquarium resting on the upper deck of my desk. A bright pink index card taped to one side wishes Roblox and Little Cookie a happy Valentine’s day; 17 mini-handmade Valentine’s cards decorate the frame of the enclosure. My new guests are cockroaches. From Madagascar. Yes, that makes a big difference. If you have bad memories of cockroaches from your past, you may be pleased to learn that not all cockroaches are created equal. This type does not scurry when the light comes on, they seem more interested in sleeping than eating, and if I’m being honest- there’s something very beautiful about their shiny earthy toned exoskeletons. Since my school closed six days ago, my six-legged little friends have needed to shelter in place along with me. It’s about all the company I can handle. My niece Hailey inspired me to create a schedule for myself to structure my time. Of the 9 items on the list, I managed to complete 2 of them. Was I being too ambitious? Now wait- I put down ‘~1 hour Spanish Lessons’- the Berkeley Library offers free language lessons via Mango- and I had planned to continue doing some lessons there. But I got caught up in composing an email to my class’ families- soliciting photos of their children (my students) for me to post on my class blog to help us all feel connected during this extremely isolating period in history. I always translate communications into Spanish since I have a large non-English speaking population in my class. Does this count as my Spanish learning time? Yes it does! Woo hoo! Now I have an extra 40 minutes to eat. The thing about a shelter in place- well, the refrigerator keeps calling you to explore. Every 15 minutes it feels like it’s time for a new nosh. I am really thankful I am able physically to run regularly, as I’d surely be unable to wear anything in my current wardrobe. And then the song ‘Brick House’ by the Commodores popped into my head, and it was time for a dance party for 1- the introverts version of a flash mob- I blasted the music and danced like only a middle-aged white woman who’s been sheltered in place for a week can, and I felt the beginnings of a new tradition coming to life. I may even host a Zoom meeting to invite fellow dancers to join in. The roaches continued to hunker down throughout the excitement. As much as I love them (and what’s not to love about these low maintenance hissers?) I think I need to widen my social circle. There’s a difference between social distancing and social anorexia. I put on my wool coat, and headed out for my third walk of the day. I needed to breathe some fresh air and get my human being fix in. Even from a six foot distance, it’s comforting to see others working through the same set of unnatural circumstances.