June - Graduation and Getaways

Lily walked up the sidewalk covered in the first names of the 5th grade graduates, stood in front of a post it easel pad, received a graduation certificate from her teacher, and picked up a T-shirt.  She walked over to a side entrance of the school to pick up a garbage bag full of her locker belongings. We stopped for a picture.  We walked home.  Goodbye Chapman. When it comes to processing all the emotions of how Lily had to finish Chapman, I'm over it.  I'm moving on.   Lily did just fine with distance learning and she will be fine with whatever form she'll need to keep going next year.  Paul and Elise's experience was disappointing and I simply had to step up and teach them; the emotional outbursts they'd never had at school but definitely came out for mom became just another part of the routine.  We persevered.  Last day of school pictures typically taken with their teacher were taken with me this year; it felt right.

A change of scenery helps everything.  Play in the ocean, explore a new house, fly a kite, dig a hole, repeat.  We had the beach to ourselves.

 The only camp not to be canceled was Paul's mountain biking camp out in Hood River.   I found a last minute horseback riding camp open for the girls and they loved it more than I expected.  Score!  We stayed on a friend's property that has two residences which made it ideal to be comfortably social with friends during these COVID times.  Besides my solo hike to Mitchell Point, watching the kids play together outside was my favorite view. 

No question this utopia we experienced to kick off summer is bizarre compared to the state of our country.  The higher-than-ever spike in COVID cases is scary and reminds us that letting our guard down has its consequences.

 I have learned more about American Black history and systemic racism in the last month than I ever did in school.  I was never a history buff so that plays a role too. There are so many stories about the heated debates around defunding police, taking down confederate statues, and reopening cases like the death of Elijah Mcclain (reading the transcript of his last words angers me with tears).  I'm curious what else will come of the BLM protests.  I'd like more momentum around making sure every state is ready to vote by mail come November.  Living in a state where it works makes it hard to grasp why it's so hard to implement across the country.  Still learning.