Sylvia's Journal

It was heaven to wake up in a real bed and not have to walk on a scuzzy damp carpet to get to the ‘men-only’ bathroom that was the only one on our dorm floor; or to worry about the mice and giant ants that shared the space with us; or entertaining the possibility of being locked out of one’s dorm room in a flimsy nightgown with cellphone and car keys inside the room. All that is now past, until next year in Charleston where we will throw ourselves into such an adventure again.

Yesterday Ed Schein delivered the closing plenary in the conference with a reflective piece, what else could one expect, on teaching. He had sketched out his own learning journey. Sita was stationed in the back of the room and recorded his journey on two foam board panels while he talked. She had her own group of fans and curious people sitting close by watching intently as she turned Schein’s words into pictures and key words. Right in line with the conference slogan (we’ll blow their minds), she blew everyone’s mind there. For Axel and me it was an experience that is hard to turn into words: to see your child doing something that is so truly masterful is the best gift one can get as parents. Many people here knew Sita and Tessa from Caringbridge and greeted Sita as if she was a relative or close friend. OBTS was another one of those communities that circled its arms around us, eleven months ago.

Going home after such an intense week is both wonderful (own bed, own stuff, kids) and a let down. I was also intensely tired from having been ‘on’ for an entire week. I was also nervous about the coming two weeks and all the work that has to be done between now and then before I take off for two back to back trips to Ghana and Haiti. I did not dare to open my mailbox which had filled up to overflowing again, just as I had been getting the contents down to below stress levels.

I ended up gardening and had my first mosquito bites of the season. I discovered another two tiny asparagus spears which raised our success level in getting the plants started to 25%. I thinned the seedlings and put them in a salad with the romaine lettuce that had reached adult proportions. It was the first meal from our garden this year.

I still have not seen Tessa who came home after I left for Babson a week ago. She has a Father’s Day plan that brings us all together for an outing on the water. Right now it is raining which is good for the garden but not for the outing; still, being together in the rain sounds better than being separated in the sun.