Here is William, close up and personal with Grandma.
Photos by Papa Johnson
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March 3rd, 2010good guys/bad guys
March 3rd, 2010
William’s world of play now consists of so called good guys and bad guys.
-Mama, he tells me, Here comes some bad guys, down the driveway. I’ll shot them with this one, okay?
Breathless with righteousness, he wields a stick for a weapon.
Later I tell him I’m not so sure about good guys and bad guys. There are only actions, I say, And we all own our share of those. Some good, some not so much so, and some half-good depending on who you ask.
But you know there are bad guys, William insists, and even though he is three, I’m sympathetic to his point of view.
When he is older, maybe I’ll ask him where the divide comes between doing a bad thing and being a bad guy. Is it all at once or can a million small actions add up, out-waying any good that someone might have done or will ever do?
Photos by Billy
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ounce of prevention: paying for our public good
February 25th, 2010
Our public schools in Charlottesville are teetering on a precipice. The threat of an enormous budget deficit is translating into plans for lay-offs, increased class sizes, and dwindling services in the coming year. As a teacher this is painful to watch, like watching in slow-motion the defacement of something prominent and good that you (in your own small way) helped build. It seems obvious someone should intervene, fill that gap, but how and who when everyone is hurting.
Even before our economy sputtered and stalled, there had been an ideological push in this county not to raise taxes at any cost. Many politicians made this their mantra. Certain pundits characterized any government attempts to to run anything big things as ‘unamerican’ by definition. Virginia, purple and bruised looking lately, is no different. Our new governor ran on that no tax promise and has dug in his heels even now as our school budgets have been slashed.
I work everyday in a public school and I would make the case that my school’s efforts are worth something. At Murray, students pass their tests, win national recognition, have art, music, PE, and even recess. Many of our teachers stay late into the evenings tutoring students and preparing for the next day. Perhaps this is not typical, but part of what allows this is the infrastructure our county has provided. School is supposed to be rigorous, fair, and meaningful here. When I think of our school, I think of specific children: a boy who doesn’t get the first time; a girl who dreads weekends, who need the consistency and promise of the education. I imagine for her million negative outcomes avoided by her being here.
Maybe the folks who decry public services and their cost have it at least partly wrong. Maybe some things, by their nature, are better in the public sector, just because they are things everyone needs or shares or benefits from. Maybe those no tax, no government folks—the ones who are sincere—have grown to take that benefit for granted.
I think our schools are worth something.
I think we’ll pay anyway, one way or another, if we bankrupt our public treasures.
I for one would rather pay a little now.
Photo by Billy
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legacy, final
February 25th, 2010
climate change
February 25th, 2010
Today it feels nearly like spring, but more snow is in our forecast. This has been the snowiest winter in my memory, and William’s first memories of what winter means.
-Spring is my favorite season, William proclaims.
Climatologists say that along with hotter average temperatures, Climate change means more capacity for moisture in the air, which potentially means more snow in the winter, and shorter winters too.
Luckily, we have artists to keep us cozy, like BirdLips, our local downbeat duo who have moved West. Good Luck Birdlips!
Photos by Billy
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winter work
February 17th, 2010
legacy, part 4
February 17th, 2010how to be alone
February 10th, 2010
–But, I’m gonna be lonely, William says nearly everyday now, when we ask him to do anything by himself. I feel for him, but maybe it’s good practice. Knowing how to be alone, I think, is a valuable skill for our times. Sure, it’s good too to know how to call people, how to depend on them, how to act as part of a team.
Still I figure every body, each of us, has to get lonely sometimes.
We have to measure our aloneness, befriend it, or remake it into something new.
I hope William learns to use his loneliness wisely.
To savor it.
To imagine and reflect and explore.
Or, he could just play Wii; Mario Kart is my favorite.
Photos by Billy
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