Leaves in the Wind

 

For Everything there is a season....

    This week I had a milestone moment while writing a paper in Multicultural Education. This class has not been a stretch for me, however the instructor has made me look at my childhood and that has been difficult. On the surface I had a two parent home with a mom who did not work out of the home until I was about 12. My family had dogs and cats and we went to church a lot. It was the 1960's and no one I knew went to Vietnam to fight in the war. My memories are lonely and filled with pain.

    My assignment this week was regarding a classroom project that a 3rd grade teacher performed in April of 1968 following the Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. I pulled out my photo album and realized that I was in 3rd grade in April of 1968.

Little Deena is bottom right above Tom

    The experiment done by Jane Elliott could have been in my classroom by Mrs. Terrill. Mrs. Elliott divided the children by blue eyes and brown eyes. The children got to feel how segregation and prejudice felt. It is a powerful experiment and she has been teaching this lesson for the past 50 years. This assignment made me think about the world I grew up in and the national events that were a part of my formidable years.

* Vietnam War - Nov. 1, 1955 to April 30, 1875. 

* Assassination of President Kennedy - November 22, 1963.

* Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. - April 4, 1968.

*Neil Armstrong walked on the Moon - July 21, 1969. 

    A student this week asked me, "Miss Deena was the world in BLACK and WHITE when you were a kid?" She is in 3rd grade and this question took me completely by surprise. She had seen black and white photos of the "olden days" and wondered if one day we all just woke up and the world had color. She was completely serious and I always tell them, "There are no dumb questions, just dumb answers." So, I gave it some thought and brought my photo album the next day.

    I have black and white photos of my childhood and my school class pictures were in black and white most of grade school. In second grade I had my first colored school picture. There was a picture of my sisters and I standing in front of the fancy T.V. we got that was our first colored T.V. in about 1970. We discussed that photo processing wasn't so good in the early days and my first family pictures that were originally in colored had faded badly. I explained paintings as early as the cave paintings in France that are over 20,000 years old are in colored pigment from plants and soil. At the end she seemed satisfied with my answer. I love my small groups💓

    All this noodling about my early years and looking at photographs got me thinking about Little Deena and why she felt like an outsider on the playground. It made me think about how I watch the playground for the "Little Deena's" that are left out and draw them into a group or one-on-one activities. The little girl who felt everything so passionately and still does have very strong feelings about things.

    Was the World Black and White?

    In some ways the world was Black and White. My parents had a very strong teaching of right and wrong. I was not taught about gray areas. We were taught justice for all, but we learned through the years that there was not justice for all. My little world did not have people of different colors until my friend Valerie came in 5th grade. I was her friend, because I felt it was important to be a friend to anyone new. I was the new kid once and that was very important to me to be a friend. I have spent my life being a friend to the "new kid." Then they get acquainted with other people and move on. It is just the way my life goes.

    A lot of people could say that Deena was their first friend in a place. Few of those people are still in my life today. This week I came to an understand about that fact. Also I feel passionate about justice, kindness, and treating others the way you want to be treated. I see the world in a larger scope while at the same time I tackle a task with an attention to detail. That seems to be contradictorily to be detail ordinated, but see the big picture too. 

    Back to the playground. I walk around taking in the big picture. That picture is not black and white. It is full of color. I have to look up at the blue sky, green trees and grass... I can't focus on the pavement, sidewalks, and recycled tire chip playground. I watch the children. There are some children that need more attention than others. I try hard to give two uplifting comments for every correction, but that is hard some days. 

    It is really hard right now, because we are so short staffed. This pandemic has taken away our substitute list. No one wants to work at a school for minimum wage. Last week four of our support staff went out on sick leave. Every department and every staff member is stretch beyond our wildest expectations. Then I go home and do homework for 3 or 4 hours a day. Somedays last week I just could not open the laptop. When I got home I wanted to put up my feet and pet my cat....that was all I had left.

    Last week it was 106 degrees when I got off work on Monday. Saturday it had cooled down and we had our first rainstorm in a while. It only got up to 68 degrees yesterday. Maybe Fall is in the air. There are no triple digits in the forecast. I am thankful.

    Fall is my favorite season, because the colors change, the weather cools, the chrysanthemums bloom, and we keep the screen door open so Molly can walk in and out onto the terrace. We have a purple chrysanthemum out there and the hummingbirds were busy today at the feeder. This season it is easy to be Thankful. 

    Tomorrow I will be back on the playground searching out the Littles who need connection with friends. I'll introduce them to a new Little friend and go on about my business. Tomorrow my 3rd graders will have new mind blowing questions and I will think and consider new answers. No, life was not Black and White then. Life is not Black and White now. I hope to see all the colors in my world and I hope to add some sparkle.