I had not planned to take a break from Substack, but, best-laid plans! here we are.
With such an ominous pause (over 2 months!) since the last Basics Weekly, I feel like I need to pop in and say hi before we resume regular programming.
First off, the end of the school year coincided with an extraordinary wildflower season. I do a lot of thinking (the precursor to writing) on walks and drives, and every time I went outside, all I could think about were the flowers.
It was on a walk in early June, our fields were finally mowed, and the humidity hung low, adding 10 degrees of heat. The stench of my neighbor’s commercial fertilizer stung my nose, and I said “Yes. Yes, this is the malaise, the misery, I was missing. Now to write again.”
Except that it was one of the last walks before I left on a 30 day RV trip. And while the road giveth and the road taketh away, with 3 kids, it's no writer’s co-op.
While our literal itinerary took us through Ruidoso and Santa Fe, NM, and then north to Ouray and Gunnison, CO, what I'm still reeling from the most is the metaphysical trip of traveling up the San Luis Valley and into the Gunnison National Forest.
It was a joy to be reminded of the vast space in the American West, the desolation, isolation, and our closeness to dust and air and light.
A pretty big part of *me* is how much I love hiking, skiing, and the mountains. I spent so much time as a teenager and 20-something getting into the largest ranges I could find and my skills would take me.
My husband and I met at Loveland Ski Resort in CO, and when you know, you know.
So my love of the mountains has been completely in the abstract since I moved to Texas, my husband's home state, 12 years ago.
We’re like onions!
As Sandra Cisneros says in her wonderful short story, Eleven:
“What they don't understand about birthdays and what they never tell you is that when you're eleven, you're also ten, and nine, and eight, and seven, and six, and five, and four, and three, and two, and one.”
I’m 38, and the big expeditions only get further in my past, but they, along with my dysfunctional childhood home yay!, formed core parts of my personality, so in that sense, they are always close at hand.
Back to School
But now it's 1 week until *teachers go back* and I'm grappling with one of my most enduring metaphysical questions: Do I need a new L.L Bean tote bag for this school year? And the answer, dear reader, is a resounding NO.
But as I scrolled social and approximated the number of outfits that would clash with a rather sharp tone of hunter green (should I just get Natural), Twitter thought I might be interested in this:
And I quote:
For 2024, the bill provides $163.0 billion, a cut of $63.8 billion – 28 percent – below 2023. This year’s Republican allocation was the lowest for the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies bill since 2008.
There are too many things eliminated and majorly defunded to list here, and some are more infuriating than others.
Pair it with the inflammatory school choice tweets of the Texas governor, and you get a vitriol soup of educational dysfunction.
It was a great reminder that we have an obligation as parents and community members to lift up and equip families of young children to be successful in what could become an absolute skeleton of a system by the time today’s toddlers are 18.
The Basics IRL
While it has been low-key on Substack, before our trip, some exciting things *in real life* have happened since I last published:
I presented The Basics Program to my school district directors and The Basics will be a part of our parent outreach this year. Starting at the pre-k center and then hopefully expanding to elementary also. New position for me as well- I'll be the district ‘homebound’ teacher, serving our medically fragile and pregnant student population. Can't wait.
I met with the Community Improvement Office of our Department of State Health Services. We will be implementing The Basics as part of their offerings, as well as increasing parent awareness of the services they provide, to our district parents.
I had a great phone interview with Elizabeth Gunderson, at Temple University. She has done a lot of important work with early numeracy, and I'm excited to include our conversation in an upcoming post.
Lastly, I was the guest speaker at a postpartum support group at our local bookstore. It was a diverse audience- expectant first-time moms, toddler moms, and teenager moms. It was a great conversation, crazy how parenting can bring people together!
So that’s where we’re at. The baby keeps fussing, the husband says the keyboard is loud, but it's Leo Season- so I leave you with a reminder to be fierce!
Put in the work and pound out the miles, even if all it feels like is pushing mist and flame.
The wonderland trail pic is my favorite. Glad the Ps survived the summer trip. Miss you already. I’m excited to hear about the new role this school year.
Love that Cisneros/onions section! (Great photo of "leaving" Ruidoso, too.)