October Happenings

In typical fall fashion, October is flying by. The days are getting shorter, our lives are getting even busier, and time for quiet, rest, and reflection must be carved out in the schedule. All fall I have meant to get to a yoga class or spend some time reading outside amongst my balcony blooms. Hopefully I can make it happen soon.

Last week, I thought I would have a break, at least from students. It was community service day and all the kids go out to various places in SA to serve our community. I had been told I would have the day all to myself in the library to inventory, tidy up, and do other various and sundry librarian tasks. I arrived at work with my coffee in hand, ready to start the wonderfully productive day.

Suddenly an administrator appeared and proclaimed a teacher was "sick." In a flash and flurry he handed me four packed file folders and told me to head to bus number 21 which currently contained 22 seniors ready to go to the San Antonio Water Authority. What?! Is this in my job description? Assist a bunch of rowdy seniors pull non-native plants out of the banks of the Riverwalk? If I had been that teacher I probably would have called in "sick" too.

....big sigh.......

I looked out the window, it was raining.

....bigger sigh..........

Resigned to my fate, I ran (ran=drove) home, threw on some old clothes, ran back and hopped on the oldest bus that our school owns. I navigated as one of our coach/teachers, JG, drove.

The doors on the bus flew open every once in awhile during the short trip.

Which included a highway.

Despite the fact that my attitude initially matched the rainy grey morning, I managed to have a good time. The kids were hilarious, as usual. The SAWA specialists had all kinds of interesting tid bits of information regarding ecosystems along the river. I was slightly concerned that I found native vs. non-native plant information so exciting. What are the implications of this??

We helped to restore the natural ecosystem to this area of the riverwalk. I had to admit that it was quite lovely in its own Texasy way.

After a morning weeding in the rainy mud we went the SAWA office. They had printed 5000 maps and discovered an error. Our task was to unfold the maps, put a sticker over the error, and refold.

5000 times

The tenacity of our students amazed me. JG was our coach. He timed our assembly lines to "motivate production." "You did 10 maps in a minute flat! Let's try for 12! You can do it!"

And we did. We were so proud of ourselves. I was so proud of our students. The SAWA peeps were so grateful (I would have been too if a bunch of high schoolers saved me a ton of time and money by fixing my silly error).

At the end of the day, despite the rain, weeds, and absurd tasks, we all had a great time. We were productive, efficient, had a good purpose, and a great coach. What more could you ask for?