Fair Days...

Dear Maria,

Good afternoon! I trust the weather in your corner of the world has you out and about. We are having warm days and cool mornings—suits me as just right. This morning while I was reading out back, the sun warmed the air enough so that a bit of an uprush—no, too strong a word—a bit of  a current rose from the jasmine on the lattice behind me and flickered across the roses and the rustled up through the oak. The jasmine is in a good, deep bloom. Even Max sticks his snout in the bush and snorts a nose-full.

Oh, the new crop of bluebirds showed last week. I missed the puffball stage somehow, and so now they are looking like miniature versions of their adult forms. An older and a younger male shared the top of the condo for a bit just after sunrise. And the first hummingbird of the season did a quick flyby as well, a ruby-throated male. First of that type I have seen in this garden.  He was quickly disappointed as my flowers do not offer much to hummingbirds or butterflies until the summer.

Out of the loop of late, but last week, I overheard several friends lamenting the arrival of the magnet school lottery as they waited for news of a first child or a younger sibling making it into a school more to their liking. Seems somehow not right that public schools are created that advertise they are doing something special and then kids and their parents are  subjected to the luck of the draw. Sort of “You can look, but you can’t enroll”.

In some circumstances there does seem to be a bit of gamesmanship going on. Doesn’t seem fair. I can hear the snorting and bleating begin: Life’s not fair. I always want to cock my head and retort, “You think I made it to 60 without snagging that nugget of insight along the way?”

I think adults should always have to stand in front of the kids—the decision-makers I mean—and tell them that “Hey, you didn’t get the golden ticket.” Same for the district official that decides on a standardized test for all students in the district. Ought to have to stand before those students reading well below grade level and explain how the test score will count as 20% of their grade for the year, but it’s the best thing to do for everyone.

Okay, enough. The weather the past few days follows a dream I had last week of sailing in early evening on an outgoing tide that took me nearly to Fort Sumter—need a boat, or at least one of my former crew members if they want to sail must recognize that it’s time for them to own that wish.

May comes, summer follows. Be well, as always.

Yours, srk