This year I’ve been trying to do certain things to take care of myself so that I can better take care of others within the community. One of them is sleeping at least eight hours a night, and going to bed by 9p so that I can wake up by 5a. And I’ve done a really good job of that over the first three weeks of the new academic year. But Wednesday night that was difficult with the news coming out of Louisville that the police officers who killed Breonna Taylor in her own apartment were going to get away with it. Well, they did not completely get off. One of them was indicted for putting her White neighbors’ lives at risk by hitting their wall with bullets that were intended for Taylor. After spending much of the last eight years consumed with pushing back against police brutality and the police state, the outcome did not surprise me. But it still hurt and I could not sleep.
I woke up on Thursday morning hoping to make the most of my day, and I had a lot in store for the day. We had planned to make Thursday a cookout day in the park for our cell. So when I woke up I collected the items that I committed to bringing, some of which I got at the grocery store on Wednesday evening and some of which I had to prepare, such as boiling and cutting potatoes. I then settled in to write a quick blog post recapping Wednesday at Abrome. My blog posts do not typically get written quickly, but with so much to do that morning and not feeling as well rested as I have been recently, I had to really focus. I have also committed to writing with a friend of mine, so three times a week we log onto Zoom at 7a and we write. It has been helpful in terms of keeping me focused and honoring that time for writing.
By the time I arrived at our meet up location that morning, my mind was busy thinking about the day to come. Facilitator Lauren was already there when I arrived, so we began to discuss the coming day as we double checked the cookout supplies we had brought. And slowly the Learners began to show up, and unlike the prior few days lots of them showed up. And the Learners showed up with the foods and supplies they agreed to bring to support the cookout.
Prepping firewood for the fire
We agreed to move out as quickly as possible to our cookout location near the lake. Fortunately, one of the Abrome parents lent us a cart to help us transport all of the food and cooking gear, which made the hike much more manageable. When we arrived at the lake we did our best to hold everyone’s attention during the morning meeting where we shared two types of intentions for the day: what we wanted to get done, and in what approach we were going to take toward the unfolding events of the day. Some of us were focused on the outcome of the cookout, and some of us were focused on enjoying the process of it. It was nice to hear both perspectives. We talked about how we were going to handle food in a sanitary way (e.g., not mixing tools for meats and vegetables), particularly with regard to Covid-19 (e.g., only one person handles any particular utensil, no communal dipping of chips). We also discussed what it meant to participate in the process—do we just show up after others did all the work and make our s’mores and leave, or do we help collect firewood, tend to the fire, and clean up, as well? We also reviewed our awarenesses and practices and then jumped into the work of collecting firewood.
As expected, some Learners were quickly drawn into the idea of making s’mores while others really dove into preparing the space so that that was possible. After I jumped off my call with remote Learners I joined in on collecting firewood but then got into a brief discussion with a Learner on the efficacy of rioting in response to injustice. We had different takes on it but we were able to begin to work through what violence is, whether actions that don’t result in change are worthwhile, and conversely whether actions that do produce change are justified. Once we had the fire up and running we began the work of preparing the food, in addition to encouraging Learners to gather more firewood so that we could keep the fire going. A couple of the Learners did their s’mores and then stepped out.
Cooking kebabs and baked eggs in peppers
My focus was on making the home fries that I started on early that morning. I had never made home fries so I was not quite sure that they would turn out very well, as my first attempts at any new foods are typically less than stellar, if edible. But home fries seemed like a great cookout food with lots of room for error. I oiled up the skillet with olive oil (butter did not work for everyone), added the potatoes, liberally sprinkled on fresh ground salt and pepper, and then Facilitator Lauren gave me some peppers and onions to add to the mix. I mixed them until they were brown and was shocked by how delicious they turned out. When they hit other people’s plates it was topped with some Cholula sauce. The dish received positive marks from all that chose to eat it.
Look at that kebab (and the dog running in the background)
Meanwhile, Facilitator Lauren and another Learner prepared baked eggs in peppers and kebabs that would be cooked over the fire they made. Once these items were placed in the fire Facilitator Lauren also prepared guacamole. Another Learner then pulled out some hotdogs and buns and tried to cook them over the fire. Multiple buns were lost to the fire. I passed on the hotdogs and kebabs (I’m a vegetarian) but I did get to try the freshly made guacamole and it was delicious. No one seemed disappointed by the quality of the food we made and most of us were stuffed by the time that we put out the fire. Although one Learner did develop a stomachache from the large amount of chocolate and marshmallows that he ingested.
One of the Learners ventured off while we were cooking and positioned himself in the middle of the field. We were not quite sure what he was doing, but eventually it was revealed that he was creating a marshmallow shrine for a new marshmallow cult he was birthing. Last year at Abrome there was a cactus cult, so I assumed that the new cult would displace the old one. I was wrong. The Learner posted the announcement of the new cult on the Abrome Discord channel and it led to an immediate backlash from the older Learners in the other cell. Apparently the cactus cult was still alive, and a debate ensued on which cult was more powerful. I’m hoping the cult war does not extend beyond the server.
Shots fired on Discord
Aside from the delicious food and the establishment of a new cult and the ensuing cult wars it was a relatively relaxed day. The sun came out and people began to move toward the dock. I eventually jumped in the water to cool down, although no one followed me in. I pulled out some sidewalk chalk and the Learners began to tag the dock, with marshmallow cult messages, of course. And before we knew it our day was coming to a close. I jumped onto the afternoon check-in with remote Learners, and then we cleaned up the area to include clearing out the fireplace we made.
Once the site was clean, we began to walk back toward the pickup point and stopped at 3:30p for our afternoon roundup. I asked if anyone wanted to be the gamemaster and everyone passed, so I decided that we would sit in a circle for the meeting so we could give each other our attention. At that point one of the Learners objected to sitting so I again offered him the opportunity to be the game master, and this time he took it. He said for the meeting we would stand and we would jump in when we wanted to say something. I asked if anyone wanted to Facilitate the meeting and a new Learner volunteered. She asked the group how they did with their intentions for the day, and invited everyone to share their rose-bud-thorn for the day. It turned out to be a really great day for everyone, and the only downside to the day seemed to be the s’mores induced stomachache for the youngest Learner.
When I returned home I had to take care of Cuddle Buddies Ivan and Ingrid who were inside all day, and then prepare for a 5:30p call with a prospective family and then jump on my 6p Education Conversations book group call. It wasn’t until after the call that I had the time to once again think about Breonna Taylor and the deep injustices that are a feature of our society. And to think about all the energy and lives that have been lost in the never-ending struggle for liberation. And as I reflected on my day I felt good that at least in my little corner of the world we were practicing freedom.
Long live the marshmallow cult! (and the cactus cult)
