Grand Junction

Another blog post from inside my sleeping bag. The last time I wrote from inside a sleeping bag, (yesterday) I was trying to keep warm. Now I am trying to keep the light out. The accommodations are in the basement of a Unitarian church with emergency lights that don’t shut off. Other than the light, this has been the best overnight so far. There is carpet and couches, and cushions and foamy blocks that one of the kids built a bed from. The church people brought us dinner AND breakfast and have just been incredibly nice. I slept better here, but only a little.

The third day of Road School was a slower pace. We only had one activity–a visit to Thistle Whistle farm outside of Paonia. There we saw a goat milking demonstration and also had a tour of some of the greenhouses and fields. The farmer grows a wide variety of plants. He had the class sample herbs and greens he had gathered and he told origin stories about the species and why he was growing particular items, and offered test tastes. He allowed us to pet goats and then we helped him organize an entire shed of planting containers. It was really hot, but also really fun.

The afternoon brought us to Grand Junction. There was no escaping my memories of living in this area when the flattop mountains came into view. I saw the Barnes and Noble that Shayne and I spent every weekend, the mall with the arcade and the movie theater. I remembered how hard it was that year to be away from my family and friends and everything that I was used to. And it made me realize that I have essentially been away from my home for three weeks now. I am not obsessively worried about Shayne, but thoughts of him flit through my day. Is he okay? Is he taking care of himself? Is he taking his medicine? June has not been historically a good month for us and even if I try not to think too much, the memories come anyway. Driving through the streets in a place where my little boy was joyful is bittersweet.

I had some downtime today and I created a cartoon about the fish hatchery and started some ideas to create more meaningful written curriculum to connect experiences with learning. I wonder if anyone is learning as much as I am. Mostly, I thought about how this road trip could make a great reality show or documentary. Maybe I need a GoPro for whatever comes next in my life.