Tributes

This weekend we went back to our wedding and camping space to pay tribute to the man who bought the land some 40 years ago and set it up as a place for lost souls to wander and live and find themselves. He died earlier this year - we only met him once, briefly, the weekend before the wedding. When we explained who we were and said we were getting married there the next weekend, he said, “don’t do it!” Ha ha. Anyway, I got notified on FB that they were doing a celebration of life this last Saturday, so we went. 

It was about what I expected - a rag-tag band of random people, some hippies, some raver types, some older conservative folks that must have been family, and people hard to figure out like us. There were only a couple of other kids there. But we listened to the tributes and wandered around the space and shared some food. We would have stayed longer but it was wicked cold - intense, biting winds blowing, and even the scarves and gloves and winter coats weren’t enough. I didn’t know the man beyond that one meeting, but I found myself getting quite emotional more than once. Maybe it was that church-like feeling of people coming together to celebrate something; maybe it was the beautiful full moon rising over the hill that took my breath away, maybe it was the sound of the wind skidding over the boulders. I don’t know - but that place is really special. How many places exist like that in the world - beautiful places just set up by some guy, not connected to any business or government agency? I’m not sure what’ll happen to it now that he’s gone, and it didn’t feel polite to ask, but I’m hoping since it’s a 501c3 and set up for paid campsites and things like that that it’ll continue as before. That’s one non-profit I would get involved in, if they were ever looking for people to help.

Friday I helped out at the boys’ Harvest Festival, and it was just as nuts as I’d anticipated - I just got thrown into the fire making sno cones for long lines of people with little or no guidance. For an hour I ground ice, packed serving cones, refilled syrup bottles, and took orders when that person wandered off. A couple of the moms chatted with me when we could - I could tell they were craving connection, too - but the work was so fast paced and relentless that there wasn’t much room for socializing. Picture The Bear - sno cone edition.

The boys had fun in their costumes and running around with their friends, but it’s weird to think this is Bobby’s first and last experience at this school. Maybe I’m projecting my own weirdness on to him but I feel like he’s not really committed to this place, either, knowing it’s just a way station. Of course, it’s hard to tell with an eleven-year-old boy. If I were to ask him about this I’m sure he’d just shrug. We always tell him he can come to us with anything and talk to us about anything - but I also know that he won’t, and perhaps, shouldn’t. I would have been mortified to talk to my mother about any of the things swirling around for me at that age; of course, my mother wasn’t very approachable for a variety of reasons, but honestly I probably think I am but actually am not, just as she probably thought she was but actually wasn’t. I also think kids, especially at that age, probably want to figure things out for themselves and have some privacy and separation from their mothers. I respect that. 

Much talk about junior high school selection, and I think some of the other parents are finding out the hard way that, if you chose to keep your kid in elementary school for 6th grade, the chances of being admitted to any of the top schools for 7th are pretty much nil. I don’t know why they didn’t know this - I certainly did - but I’m seeing it slowly dawn on some of them. It’s also validating to hear that other parents are concerned about long commutes in rush hour traffic. Quality of life is important, and three to four hours of driving back and forth a day just isn’t worth it in my book. All of this to say, I’m feeling more confident in my choice to just choose the local jr/sr high (Plan A). We don’t find out until March if he actually made it in or not, but even if he didn’t make it in to the actual gifted program, I think I’d still get a permit for the regular school. 

Tomorrow is Halloween which means the end of the first part of the holiday trifecta. This is actually the simplest one, tbh. Thanksgiving involves the big move of furniture out to the cabin, which will be very complicated and expensive. I did manage to get us tickets to Thanksgiving dinner up at the top of the mountain in Palm Springs - the H is always wanting us to ride the gondolas up there, so hopefully this will be a welcome surprise. Then Christmas has been a bit fraught and I’m stressed out that I still don’t have travel plans locked down - we’re supposed to go to Florida, but tickets are sky high, so my sister and I are vigilantly watching prices. Hopefully we can lock something down soon.