Southern evening

Chuck and I attended a house party this weekend to see Tom Kimmel. He read from his book of poems, "The Sweetest and the Meanest," and some new pieces. It was some of the most entertaining poetry I've heard in a long time. He is really funny and humble and seems like such a nice man.
The view from the house is incredible, with the water and mountains and a couple of hummingbirds flitting for the feeder outside the window.
After a break he played guitar, sang songs, told some stories, read more poetry. He entertained a small crowd, but packed house of about 50.
This song is from the movie Serendipity. It struck a cord for us, so I'm linking it here. It's called, "When you know." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riR4cscYGlY
But he has a lot of songs that are really good. Other artists like Linda Ronstadt, Johnny Cash, Randy Travis and Waylon Jennings have recorded his songs.
He was born in Memphis, raised in Alabama, and has lived in Nashville for a long time, so it was nice to listen to him talk. Felt like I was home. His Southern humor and personality were refreshing. I loved hearing him talk about his family, read the poems centered around Southern family and experiences, and his church experience as a child.
We had a really good time, and saw some familiar faces.

Night Out x2

At the Citizen of the Year Banquet.

Chuck is growing his hair, mustache and sideburns for an upcoming event. He plans to go back to his clean-cut ways once that event is over, but I kind of like this look. 

Photo by Ed Johnson

Earlier this month Chuck and I attended the Feast or Famine dinner on Mardi Gras night. That event is intended to bring awareness to the world's hunger problem. This year was a little different and it focused on the needs of our local community. The speaker was our newly elected county council member Stan Flemming. He is a physician and has spent time in Haiti helping with the medical needs of earthquake victims. He and his cousin built a clinic there.

So he talked a bit about the needs of people there, and the needs of people in our community.

Last time I went I was assigned to the group that got thin broth. Only 10 percent of the population is assigned to the feast, and for this event that means a prime rib meal with baked potato, salad, etc. The middle group gets enough, but not anything extra, and the largest population receives the broth.

This year there wasn't broth. The largest population got red beans and rice. I really like red beans and rice, so I wasn't disappointed. For me the prime rib was not a desirable meal, but that's because I don't really eat steak or red meat.

Our table won the desert auction and chose a decadent chocolate cake. 

Last weekend was another night out for us, but this time we took the kids.

The Citizen of the Year banquet was held at our local civic center on Saturday evening. We were guests of a nominee who happens to be a volunteer at the Key Peninsula News. We had four who were nominated, but they all do more than just volunteer for the paper.

There are many small communities within the larger community of the Key Peninsula. Each one is unique and has its own story. And each one is functioning because of the many people who volunteer in so many ways to make things happen.

The banquet is put on by the local Lions Club, and people nominate volunteers they believe are deserving of recognition. I think most of the nominees invite guests to fill their table for the event. There is a raffle and drink tickets for purchase.

Each nominee is recognized, and at the end of the night there is one volunteer who is chosen as the Citizen of the Year. It's a nice way to give a nod to those people who devote so much time to making things work.

We run the photos and bios of each nominee in our paper. I admit it is a total pain in my rear to get all of this information put together, then it goes to the layout person who probably has an equally painful experience. But it's something our readers enjoy. They like seeing their neighbors in the paper and reading about the many things they are volunteering for in the community.

The fire chief was a nominee but couldn't attend, so Chuck was asked to stand in his place during the recognition ceremony.

I'm not sure the kids really paid attention to much. They were waiting for the chance to play a Wii or watch a movie in another part of the building.

The dinner was catered by a local chef, Dorne Webster. There were many local dignitaries in attendance, and we made our rounds.

This is a busy month. It's not over yet.

Neighborly Influence

One of my fond memories from childhood is the time I spent with Mr. Rogers. Though he was only a man on TV that I couldn't actually talk to or sit with, I distinctly remember feeling as if I was right there with him for that brief 30 minutes each day.

He was really different from all of the grownups I knew. Calm, quiet, methodical, patient. There were many days I wished he could be my real neighbor or even part of my family.
For 30 minutes, which at the age of 5 I had no concept of, I could escape whatever was happening around me. I could go on a field trip to see something I had never seen before, like how crayons were made. I could follow trolley to the land of make believe. There were anchors on that show that made me feel great because I could count on them each day. The sweater, the shoes, feeding the fish, those were all things that made me feel comforted.

I always hated it when Mr. Rogers said goodbye, but loved the way he did it.

There are so many messages that I know I got from him that I may not specifically remember.

As an adult I have seen some of the reruns and watched them with my kids. It is still one of my favorite televisions shows. I love the fact there is no dumbing down on that show. No sing-song baby talk, no gimmicks in an attempt to keep a child's attention. He didn't need gimmicks. He spoke a child's language, yet he never made you feel less than an adult because you were a child.

I never realized there were so many nasty rumors about Mr. Rogers until I started looking on the Internet to confirm dates for his birth, etc.

I guess it's just difficult for people to believe there could be a really good man who loved children. He never served in the military, wasn't violent, wasn't accused of child molestation and wasn't wearing long sleeves to hide tattoos.

He was an ordained Presbyterian minister. He studied music and attended the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Child Development.

Today Mr. Fred Rogers would have turned 83. In 1997 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award and his acceptance speech was remarkable. What a wonderful man. I wish I could have been his neighbor.

"The Trouble with Black Boys"

When I first read that title I was shocked. It brought up a bit of defensiveness within me, but it also intrigued me. I decided it would be a good fit. It's the book we're reading as part of a project within the school district Sean attends. Community Awareness for Student Achievement is designed to bring together community members to study the impact of poverty and race on student learning.

I wanted to be part of it for a variety of reasons. First, I'm a white mom raising a biracial boy. I invited Chuck to do this with me because he has become a big part of Sean's life. He really is helping me raise him and I think it's important for both of us to know more about the issues facing biracial boys these days. I'm also very passionate about education and believe we should all be doing more to figure out why these boys, especially, are falling through the cracks.

Last night was our first meeting at a high school in the city. We were served dinner, received our books and were put into book club groups. Child care was even provided by the YMCA.

There are nine in our group. We met our facilitator and went to a classroom and got to know a little bit about each other. We then decided to divide the book into chapters, with a couple of people taking each chapter as a focus. Our next meeting will focus on the first half of the book.

These nine people are from different ethnic and professional backgrounds. I think we all have a unique perspective and it's exciting to be part of this project. Our facilitator was in high school during segregation in the South. There are two biracial participants, one is a teacher and the other works with at-risk youth age 16 to 24. There is a woman from Cambodia who works with at-risk students, an Asian principal of an elementary school, a white principal, a white nutritionist who visits elementary schools to teach nutrition, Chuck, who grew up in a diverse environment with friends of all colors, and sees all types of family situations as a firefighter, and myself.

We will read this book as other groups read other titles: "Teaching with Poverty in Mind," "Can We Talk about Race," "The Global Achievement Gap," "Lessons from High Performing Hispanic Schools," and "Whatever it Takes."

Each group will share how new ideas from these books can be incorporated into the way the district educates students.

This district does seem to be very forward thinking and willing to embrace new ways of teaching. There is a renowned psychologist and doctor who is talking tonight about the differences between boys and girls and how best to educate them, and this idea is being implemented at one middle school in the district. I won't be able to attend, but I'm hoping to hear from either a parent or teacher who is going.

Maybe it's a coincidence, but it does seem to me the movie, "Waiting for Superman," has gotten the attention of educators and parents. This district, at least, is trying to look at ways to improve.

How's the weather up there?

When I was a kid we lived far away from my mom's parents. They lived here in Washington and we lived in Tennessee. Every time my mom would talk to grandma on the phone she would ask about the weather and a weather conversation would ensue.

I always wondered what was so interesting about the weather. Now I understand. I'm sure mom missed this mild climate. She had moved to a place of extremes. Hot and humid in the summer, bitter cold in the winter.

As much as I hate to admit it, I sometimes talk about the weather with my kids, too. They are in Tennessee and I'm here. I remember the days in Tennessee when it would be 65 one day and snow the next. I don't miss the extremes, but I do have fond memories of walking around town after dark on a hot summer night wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top. Can't do that here any time of the year. Some people do, but they are natives. I don't call 65 degrees and a breeze off the water shorts and tank top weather. Maybe after I've been here a while longer...

I also follow a couple of meteorologists on Facebook. I know some people who are addicted to the Weather Channel, and I admit I find it fascinating on some level.

So last week I was out talking to a potential freelance writer who wants to work for the paper. The day began innocently enough. Mild temperature. And by noon it was this:

I called the school to see if they were dismissing early because the roads were pretty bad. The principal answered and said it was up to parents if they wanted to pick up early.

I was ready to go, but had to eat first. My car goes well in snow so I wasn't worried that a few mins. would make a difference getting there to pick Sean up from school. I love snow. I don't really like driving in it here because there are too many people who don't know how to drive in it. They literally abandon their cars in the middle of the road. Last year there were so many people who left their cars on the freeways that the plows couldn't get through to clear the roads. I don't understand it.

So I was kind of excited about this late snow and was hoping it would stick around for a while so we could play in it a bit. As I sat eating, the clouds passed on and the sun came out. By the time I was ready to go the roads were clear.

Oh well. Maybe we'll get another snow in March. It could happen. But most likely it will rain. I just hope this year we'll have spring. Last year we had cold and rain until August. I think we had a week of high temperatures, and that was it. That was summer folks. Then it was on to fall.

I guess the weather can be pretty interesting.