Oh I wish that my digital camera worked.
Oh I wish that my digital camera worked
If my camera were operational
I could share pictures that are inspirational
And that would be truly celebrational....
Don't you ALSO wish that my camera worked?

Well, I'll soon see if new batteries do the trick for stopping bad poetry and starting new post ideas!
Until then, enjoy this old picture.

Remembering The Alamo, The Arawaks, and Your Anniversary

Julius and I just got back from our "mini-moon" (mini because the big honeymoon adventure is scheduled for next summer). We spent a week on the beach on Lake Huron in Tawas, Michigan, even throwing in a little side-trip to Mackinaw Island for bike-riding and fudge! Then we went to the annual KIPP Summit. This year it was in San Antonio, Texas. While San Antonio itself was a little more theme-parky than we were expecting, we had a great time in a brand-new hotel and meeting and learning from many amazing and energetic young educators. I also visited the Alamo, which is right smack-dab in the middle of the touristy river-walk area we came to call "frontier-land," and I have mixed feelings about why I should remember it. The motto, "Victory or Death" has never resonated with me that strongly. Especially not when, as with the Alamo, it involves a fight for land that gets confused with a fight for freedom or justice. I understand the desire to make "heroes" of the underdogs, but I don't think we'll be fully evolved as humankind until we realize that there is no such thing as a just war. So, I will remember the Alamo as long as people and governments are fighting for land and power instead of for justice for all. KIPP Summit was a good place to remember that, actually. KIPP dares to ask why, in the land of liberty and justice for all, poverty is a leading factor in sub-par education. If you look at our urban centers, it's not hard to see that de-facto racial segregation also exists alongside this phenomenon. Being involved in KIPP is, for many, a powerful way to be a part of the continued civil rights movement. The statistics prove that the civil rights movement isn't finished.

"How's that?" you may ask. "I thought the civil rights movement was in the 50's and 60's."

Well, here's one take. Though I am not even a land-owner myself, I daily take for granted the benefits I reap from white privilege: a leg-up in my daily interactions with people, simply because my white forerunners held the land and the power, oh, since about the first time people of color were enslaved by them. On this continent, that process began around, you got it, early October, 1492. To be fair, Columbus is certainly not the first to take other human beings by force as slaves, maybe not even the first on this continent. He is just the one we "celebrate" each October. If we celebrate anything on that day, it should be the dying out of the worldview that allowed human beings, Columbus and his people, to see other human beings, the native Arawaks, primarily as a people to be subjugated. The first slave ships from Africa to the Americas were not far behind - beginning in the mid-to-late 1500's. Fast-forward to the National Voting Rights Act of 1965. 1965! Just 13 years before I was born! And you question why that "pick-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps" attitude toward making it in the United States does not exactly feel equal-access to all? 400+ years of largely ignored but gross inequality can really mess a culture up. So that's why the civil rights movement isn't completed. And, I'm sorry, but it's heck of a lot more important to me than the Texas revolution. Want to know more about white privilege? Check out Tim Wise's website and blog. For something to really make you think, check out this video of his, The Creation of Whiteness

So, um... also....we got married! It was a wonderful, beautiful, magical day. I have been so happy to hear from many guests that they enjoyed it as much as we did! The guys in the band even said it was one of the coolest, most laid-back weddings they had ever played. Maybe I'll write more about the wedding later. Right now it's just nice being home and being married!

Getting back to the attempted theme of this blog, I still own no car of my own. I wonder if even one year of car sharing and public transport can make up for the carbon emissions of flying from Michigan to Texas and back. I hope so. Just in case it doesn't, I'm still trying. Oh yes! One highlight of KIPP Summit was meeting Sara Cotner, a fellow blogger who was also married on July 19th and who also chose meaning over mammon for her wedding. I hope she doesn't mind my linking to her superb blog about that. So - here's to remembering, in all things, what's really important!

love, Katie

Fairly, not Frilly (....in Philly)

OK - I'm back from my week in the Boston area where I was attending the national convention of the Swedenborgian Church. I volunteered for some things in the church while I was still in school, never expecting the commitments would continue 5+ years. The big perk is that I get to go to Convention and hang out with my mom, my "beta-mom" (Mom's best friend) and lots of good friends.
Now that school's out and convention's over, I can feel, for a short while, that I am actually on vacation. Yet, we are still planning a wedding here!
So - time to open up and introduce you all to the one comic strip I regularly read online. Lynn Johnson's For Better Or For Worse
To call it a "comic" is almost a misnomer. It's more like a whimsical little family-oriented soap opera, with poignant "ah, life" funnies instead of "ha-ha" funnies - though, to be fair, I feel like there must be a "ha-ha" in there somewhere. Over the past few years, I've enjoyed following the drama of character Liz's love life, and it just so happens that we are both getting married soon.
So - though I haven't yet experienced the utter....frazzled-ness? (or shall I use the word "frazzle" itself as a noun?) ... depicted in today's strip exactly - the emotion of urgency and nervousness over the planning is definitely there just beneath the surface.
I also feel compelled to note that, rather than working on the wedding with my mom (though she pitches in as well as she can from 600 miles away and will be working on making cookies by the hundreds for the big event), I am working on it primarily with my almost-HUSBAND, Julius. I am so lucky to have a partner who shares our life's tasks without delineations of "man's work" or "woman's work", even down to the frillier aspects of a wedding (Um - not that our wedding really qualifies as particularly "frilly" as weddings go). Besides, practicing how to work together well and fairly without getting bratty toward each other is just another page out of our ongoing efforts toward better living through Gestalt Therapy. (Maybe I can add a link to that later. For now, you'll just have to look it up.)

Occasionally people ask me, "So, how's the blog going?"

I pitifully answer, "Well, I haven't really been adding to it.....I'm not sure if I'm really comfortable with the personal aspects of blogging...." or something like that.

Part of it is the feeling of, "Is anybody out there?!" and some guilt associated with presuming my life to be worthy of adding to the limitless banter on the web, even though one friend with an absolutely wonderful blog about her children assures me that my life is more interesting than the simple fact that I own no car.
And part of it is not knowing just how much one can reveal about one's life online without becoming vulnerable to some sort of invasion of privacy. Sheesh - Julius and I met on the internet - so you'd think I'd feel plenty savvy - but we used eHarmony, which I'd characterize as the most nit-pickingly careful and safe matching website out there....(for heterosexual people, I should note ... Honestly, I almost quit because this isn't fair but then I actually DID meet the love of my life so, well, I had to give 'em some credit)
Or maybe my reason for not posting on my blog since November is that I've had a ridiculously challenging school year and also the battery-charger for my digital camera died?
Well, at the moment I'm back, and maybe I'll even check in again before gittin' married in July.

Oh yeah - how could I forget? Julius bought a PRI-US! Did my own car-fasting have ANYTHING WHATSOEVER to do with it? Probably not - Julius has been quite keen on the hybrids for some time. Just one more reason I love you, Julius!
But our driving now feels even more guilt and worry-free. Life is so good.

There now. That wasn't so bad, now, was it?

I love these people!

A big part of being a PhillyCarShare member is that you must recognize your responsibility to the group. It really is a co-op in a way. For instance, the gas is free - but you have to take the time to fill it up. Fines or penalties only get handed out when you do something that causes a problem to other members, like leaving it with an empty tank or returning a car very late. There's even a credit if you get the car washed! (Hmmm - maybe I'll do that tomorrow if I have extra time!)

It's just the way I want my 1st and 2nd-grade classroom to run. Neither has a perfect set of natural consequences/ intrinsic rewards, but the facsimile is parallel. Expectations are clearly defined and met; there are consequences for carelessness and rewards for caring and responsibility.

It makes me feel so happy each time I use a car, because it feels so fair and sensible. The thought that people I pass on the street could be fellow members also gives me a warm feeling. I wish everyone could have access to this. Just plain renting a car never feels this light. :)

Alas, we almost used a Phillycarshare for our trip to Baltimore for Thanksgiving. It turned out that just driving the buick was a leeeettle bit cheaper in the immediate sense. Oh well. At least you can take that as evidence that I'm not completely brainwashed or something.

I am feeling rather philosophical today, so here's one more tidbit:

At the end of a long day, when I am tired yet there is still work to be done, I often find myself thinking, "Am I really LIVING? Is this the life I want? When will the never-ending vacation of my fantasies begin?" But if I take a moment to add up the meaning of it all - my work as a teacher, the part I play in my community and the world (including being a part of groups like Weaver's Way food Co-op and PhillyCarShare ), and all of the love that surrounds these pursuits, I feel very grass-roots, close to the source, makin' a difference, "whole-grain" about my life. And there are days when it's almost a shock to realize how natural I feel going about my life-work. Mindfulness of this turns it into a precious gift.

Of course, given the way my mind and soul work, I doubt I would last long doing it any other way.

By this time it's a well-established precedent, proven by my salary, that you couldn't pay me to give that up.

Namaste

Bike Commute Update

Though I haven't used it recently - with morning light arriving later these days - I do now have a bike/train route through the park that works quite well and isn't as complicated as the one I experimented with before. I take a park trail that follows the wiley Wissahickon creek (about a 20 minute ride from one end to the other going fast), and then catch regional rail at the other end for a 10-minute ride to work. Then there's a 15-minute walk from the station to the school.

I wonder what people in their traffic jams would give to spend just 20 minutes rambling through the woods beside the creek's rapids. I consider myself lucky to have this option. I don't know if chilly weather will slow down my time at all, and I worry about being late if there's ever a mishap in one leg of the journey. But, I may try again to enjoy the route before it truly gets too cold or dark or both. Braving a little fall air in the morning can me feel strong and tough! Then a downhill coast in the afternoon is a sweet reward after a long day!

People are so kind!

It's been far too long since I made an entry. This has been a day to deal with things on my computer, though, as I just archived or deleted over 600 emails in my yahoo account. I'm hoping that seeing Inbox (2) instead of Inbox (347) will help to ease my mind and make replying to those work-not-play-generating emails that much easier.
Anyhoo - commuting update - My legs are very strong. Since the first or second week of school, I have been regularly carpooling with a colleague who lives just a little over a mile from my house. So - I walk around 15-30 minutes or a half a mile or more each morning, depending on how early each of us is leaving the house (We meet somewhere in the middle), then I do it again in the evening.
Still, that doesn't prevent my gym's Sunday morning yoga instructor from kicking my ass leg-wise. I noticed she had extraordinary calves from the beginning - but I didn't expect the soreness from all of those poses to last for a week! Note to self - remember to stretch every day!

Financial update - I had to rejoin Geico as a second driver on Julius's car. So - am I REEEELY saving money? Well, carpooling has saved me the cost of SEPTA tickets and passes for now (Thanks, Elisa!), and, compared to the penalties I'd face for driving without being insured, I guess it's a bargain!
Also, without a car, I make far fewer trips into the world of shameless commerce.

Wedding update - We're gonna make that trip to visit possible wedding venues one of these days! Any day now - really! Sheesh. It's not even funny how little we've got ready for the spring or summer nuptials. And I haven't even had the energy to think about the carbon footprint we're leaving just by having a bunch of people from different places all fly or drive to the event. Would that Philly venues weren't so expensive - at least we could work public transport into PART of the day. At least we're shooting for ceremony, reception, and lodging for the family at one place. Wish me luck in finding venues and caterers we can afford!
Also, we're going to make a trip up to NYC soon to visit Rev. Ron Brugler. Julius really dug him when they met this summer at Almont summer camp, and so we're hoping we can have this officiant, with his warm and fuzzy voice on the big day. I'm hoping that he and his wife of 30+ years can also give us some tough questions to sort out in the realm of pre-marital counseling. We could use some guidance on how to disagree fairly and...I dunno....constructively? I could hardly euphamize it any more than that - but I think married people know what I'm talking about!

My summary of this entry - walk more. It feels good.

Also, Julius is quite handsome. Seriously. (Thank you for that addition, Julius).