Forecasted thunderstorms mandated our first half-day of the year
Friday was the final day of the second cycle of this first full pandemic academic year. My body was still recovering from the fall I took running the retaining wall on Monday, so I opted for a gentle morning walk with Cuddle Buddies Ingrid and Ivan instead of a run. I then checked the weather forecast and saw that thunderstorms were forecasted for the afternoon, so I called for a 1:00 p.m. early pickup for the first time this year. I updated the website, then sent messages to families via email and text, and updated the internal Facebook group and posted the change on Discord. After jumping on a zoom call for a writing session, I grabbed the Cuddle Buddies and all of my equipment and got out the door to get to the drop-off point early. When I arrived at the park I laid out my equipment and pulled out the Rubik’s cube I wanted to solve. I had printed out a guide that talked about the various algorithms that can be used to solve it, and I focused on memorizing the first couple of steps.
The first Learner to show up for the day showed up in a Halloween outfit. I had gotten a Discord message informing me that multiple Learners may dress up for our last day, but I had been so busy that morning I did not remember to pull together an outfit. I did not know what the Learner chose to dress up as, as other Learners began to filter in for the day. Two Learners got a stern look from the Learner who had dressed up when showed up without an outfit. One of the Learners assured her that he had an outfit in his bag, and that he would put it on later.
With the day being so short, only three hours instead of six, I wanted to get through the morning meeting and Check-in and Change-up meetings as quickly as possible. The Learners set limited intentions to go with the limited time we had for the day: swim, pet the dogs, socialize, ink, comic, meeting with Antonio, write, freetopia (twice), don’t die, and vibe. Ingrid chewed through her leash during the morning meeting.
After the morning meeting we went into the Check-in and Change-up where we did not retire the two awarenesses we were working on, but we did have a long debate over whether or not to add an awareness of people getting too close to each other during Covid-19. This conversation touched upon the risk of transmission if two people are in each other’s bubble with masks, and when they touch each other. The conversation also led into questions of informed consent. Specifically, if the Learners are not being vigilant about distancing (they are good on masking) should they be informing their family members so that they understand the added risk the Learners are taking on? The answer is yes. Although the awareness was not added to the Community Awareness Board, I expect that it will be revisited in the next cycle.
Spending some quality time with the Cuddle Buddies before the next cycle
We decided to spend our half day at the lake, and when we arrived everyone took up their usual spots. I reminded two Learners that we needed to meet for check-ins. The check-ins were short, with me just sharing one observation and asking them about preferences for the next cycle. One Learner wanted to maximize her time with Cuddle Buddies Ingrid and Ivan in case she was not in my cell for the next cycle. Over the next hour and a half she asked me lots of questions about the particular habits and histories of each dog, and then asked me to take a picture to post on Instagram.
Persephone
When I dropped by the dock to check on the other Learners, I saw the outfit the other Learner brought to wear. He did not want me to take a picture of his outfit, but the Learner who showed up in an outfit later did. When I asked what the outfit represented she told me it was Persephone. As I sat back down, with each Learner being fully engaged in their own thing, or in conversation with one another, I went back to toying around with the Rubik’s cube. With the guide I was able to solve it, finally.
Finally solved the Rubik’s cube
And all of a sudden the day, and the cycle was coming to a close. With so little time left it was apparent the Learners were not eager to shave off any time for the afternoon roundup. So we decided to do the afternoon roundup on the walk back to the pick-up location to save a bit of time. Halfway into the walk I stopped everyone and asked them to share one gratitude about anything they are thankful for in life. While there are always going to be bumps along the way in any community that centers the autonomy and needs of Learners, because freedom is messy, especially during a pandemic and away from the comforts of the indoors, I was touched by the gratitudes that were raised. Every one of them was gratitude for the other Learners at Abrome, or for their opportunity to be at Abrome. I hope they carry that with them into the next cycle.