Days 133 & 134 of AY20-21: rain is a good thang

Monday, May 3rd was the beginning of the final full week of cycle 9. The small, physically distant cells were great for much of the year as it helped us greatly reduce the risk of exposure to Covid-19 for our community should someone get infected. But the challenge is that the Learners and Facilitators really want more than four to seven Learners showing up each day because each additional person added to a Self-Directed Education environment has an outsized impact on the community. On Monday, four Learners showed up for the small cell that I am part of for the cycle. But with pandemic numbers continuing to improve, we were preparing for the possibility of larger cells the next cycle, if the risk stage as determined by Austin Public Health were to drop to level 2.

On this day, most of us had the expectation and plan to spend much time on the paddle board. Shortly after our meeting and our walk to the lake, one of the teens to offer to pump up the paddle board so he and another teen Learner could get out on the water.

Some of the Learners have been on the paddle board before so they effortlessly pushed off and enjoyed their time on the surface of the lake. But two of us had never been on the paddle board, and each of us were able to overcome our fears and our shaky stabilizer muscles to get up on the board and enjoy the challenge of working against the current and waves of the lake.

Although I was on only briefly, as were Facilitator Lauren and a young Learner, two of the teen Learners spent a great deal of time on the paddle board individually and together. They then decided to head up the river (the lake in Austin is really just a river). And they stayed up the river for quite some time, without having shared with us the plan. When they came back we all had a conversation about what are reasonable safety boundaries and what are our communication needs. They also brought back a turtle with them that they then released back into the lake.

All but one of us went in the water at some point during the day. But as the temperatures continue to rise I think that we will need to really encourage everyone to get in the water to help regulate their temperatures. Having pulled out the swimming noodles certainly made getting in the water a bit easier and more fun for Facilitator Lauren and a young Learner who navigated all around an inlet.

On this day I decided to do another polar bear plunge, as I think I will do many many days from here on out as the weather gets hotter and hotter. I planned to jump over the two teens who were on a paddle board together as a surprise, and I lucked out by a water plane landing nearby that took their attention.

When Facilitator Lauren and the youngest Learner were on the paddle board I broke out the drone so the teens could fly it.

As summer comes in and as more and more schools release their hold on kids, more and more will be coming into the green areas we have frequented for much of the year. One young lady who had been at the dock the week before had returned, and a couple of the Learners had separate conversations with her. They both said that they were really glad they got to know her a bit.

As the day was coming to a close one of the adolescent Learners asked if I wanted to jump back into the water from the roof over the dock, so we each climbed up and made a few leaps. Then we climbed higher, onto the roof of the building, and made the longer jump in. It was a blast.

At the other cell the Learners got to see the greenbelt they visited filled with water! Usually the bed is dry, but the recent rains turned it into a lovely flowing body of water.

The water led multiple Learners to just sit and take it all in, while one Learner took some time for themself to help process a rough morning. Two Learners spent a lot of time together for the first time since that Learner enrolled in January, but because the January and February cells were completely remote, and because the other Learner only returned recently after becoming fully vaccinated, this cycle was their first chance to really get to know each other.

Meanwhile, the conversation of King Kong came up, again. Everyone was pulled into the conversation even though some did not care to be pulled in. The conversation revolved around the question of can something that was created with racist intent ever not be racist? Should we try to take racist messages and turn them into not-racist? One Learner suggested that we should just enjoy it and that we “don’t have to look in the past.” Another countered that it still influences the present and future, and pointed out that some people have the luxury of not looking in the past. The Learner who recently returned who had never participated in that conversation later thanked folks for the conversation and raising his awareness of the issue.

On Tuesday morning I started the day with a great call with the parent of a prospective 10-year-old Learner. We talked about community and our focus on centering the needs of Learners, particularly as they relate to issues of race. Later I had another great call with the parent of four prospective Learners and set up a shadow for the first of them. Finally, I had a third call with the parents of yet another four prospective Learners. Our biggest concerns right now with enrollment are (1) do we have enough time left in the year to get every prospective Learner in for a shadow, (2) do we need a larger facility to accommodate them all next year, and (3) do we have enough Facilitator capacity to bring on everyone if they want to enroll? Not the worst problems to have.

At the cell that I would be with if it were not a Tuesday the crew was smaller than usual, as one of the Learners got a bad case of sunburn and needed to stay at home, as did his sibling. The adolescent Learner who showed up was going to have a short day because he needed to leave at 1:30 p.m. for an appointment. Knowing that it would only be Facilitator Lauren and a young Learner at the end of the day, Facilitator Lauren invited the Learner’s vaccinated mom to join them that afternoon.

It was a beautiful day with amazing weather, so the crew decided it would be a good morning to hike to the bigger waterfall. They took a somewhat different path getting there by walking barefoot up the cold waters of the the stream. It was slippery at times, as they tried to keep their balance while walking over algae and moss covered rocks. During the meandering walk they took time for quiet breaks and rock skipping. During one of the breaks they came across a large patch of wild onions and began to chow down. It wasn’t the best tasting food they’d have that day, but it was probably the healthiest.

After the older Learner left for his appointment, Facilitator Lauren, the younger Learner, and that Learner’s mom spent time at the lake swimming with noodles, eating ice cream, and eating watermelon. It was a very relaxed and enjoyable day despite the low turnout.

At the other cell, one of the Learners stayed home to celebrate his birthday. But all the other Learners showed up, and those who were not there the prior day made the most of the abundant water. Every one of the Learners got into the water at some point.

One of the Learners decided to go up and down the stream several times, while others just let the water flow over their bare feet. One of them splayed themselves face down on a rock in the middle of the stream in what looked like a potential crime scene photo, but it was much more relaxing than any crime scene could be.

On this day, the crew decided to hike for 20 minutes, exploring the ways that the greenbelt have changed with the influx of water, before their morning meeting. They found a variety of things to do to include capturing a skink and enjoying observing its beauty before releasing it back to the wild, in addition to setting up the hammock and letting the sun fall on them.

In addition to spending lots of time in and around the water, two of the Learners got sucked into a game on a Learner’s phone. Fortunately that did not prevent them from appreciating the beauty all around them or from going in the water.

Final note: my previously declared daily' blogging has now fully shifted to cluster-of-days blogging. It just makes sense to me to do so given the much more frequent thunderstorms that result in inclement weather days from March to June, and with me taking Tuesdays and Thursdays off-site for administrative duties while we have three Facilitators (one of them being an intern) to support the Learners. I’m also now a month behind on posting! I’m neck deep in trying to respond to the greater than usual interest in enrollment from prospective families while also supporting our current families in navigating their plans for the coming year with continued uncertainty about what the pandemic plan will look like. Will we be able to be indoors? Will indoors only be for fully vaccinated Learners? Will we continue to have dedicated outdoor cells? I do not know, and the Delta variant of Covid-19 seems to be throwing a wrinkle into the possibilities. The bad news is that schools everywhere had long ago given up on protecting the community from the spread of Covid-19, so whatever happens we will still likely be on the extreme end of prioritizing community over convenience. The good news is that vaccinations continue to inch up, including among Learners in our community. Anyway, I hope to really ramp up my posting again after mid-June!

Days 130, 131, 132 of AY20-21: a day and two remotes

As we entered into the latter half of the middle week of cycle 9 of the pandacademic year we were uncertain as to how much time we would be able to spend with the Learners given pandemic fatigue, thunderstorms, and struggle with the heat and the humidity. When I showed up on April 28th I found that we again had a smaller than decent sized crew, with only three Learners present, so I went back to Abrome to focus on getting more Learners enrolled. For the Learners who did show up in my cell, Facilitator Lauren focused on giving them lots of individualized attention and play.

In addition to Facilitator Lauren, the smaller crew consisted of a 16-year-old, 8-year-old, and a 6-year-old. The younger Learners often spend a lot of time with each other, but they don’t spend much time with the teens, but they all tend to appreciate being in each other’s orbits. On this day they all played monarchs and viceroys (the insects, not the authoritarians), and cougar stalks deer. Perhaps having fewer teen Learners present made it easier for the 16-year-old to join in, although we have pulled teens into these games before.

In addition to the games was a great appreciation for local animals. For example, there was much admiration for the great blue heron who was hanging out near the cell, and of another snake that was situated at the base of a cypress tree. There was less joy at seeing two baby copperheads slithering across the trail under feet as the crew was walking toward the lake! That gave them all an opportunity to talk about safety and being mindful of wear we step.

At the lake the adolescent Learner eagerly jumped at the opportunity to spend time on the paddle board, where he would spend much of the day enjoying the tranquility of sitting on the surface of the lake.

But the other Learners also were sure to get their turns on the boat as well. As Facilitator Lauren and the 8-year-old floated up a stream they watched a snake slowly lower itself into the water and swim away, and they saw the blue heron snatch a fish out of the water and eat it! During the paddle board adventure the younger Learner noticed a can that was thrown (or dropped) in the water, so she asked to paddle over to it, where she picked it out of the water and then dropped it off in the trash when she returned to shore. What a wonderful way to help take care of the public spaces that we are able to frequent!

In addition to appreciating the fauna the Learners also appreciated the flora of Central Texas on the beautiful day. One of the Learners found that in addition to tasting delicious that mulberries serve as an excellent hair dye, while another Learner was fascinated by the gradient of colors of a blade of grass going from a deep green to a near white.

When everyone was finished with their time on the paddle board, and as Facilitator Lauren was at the bathroom, the teen Learner began to pack it up. When Facilitator Lauren returned she thanked him for packing it up. The 8-year-old Learner then remarked, “that was really helpful.”

As the day came to a close the cell gathered around and played a variety of quizzes together, such as identifying the names of video games or NASA missions. For the afternoon roundup they each shared one experience during that day that was uncomfortable, one that was joyful, and one that was inspiring. They then walked back to the pickup spot where the Learners got into their vehicles to go home. As the youngest one was getting into his car he turned to his mom and asked if he was “helpful.” They’re always watching, and they’re always listening.

At the other cell the Learners spent most of their day climbing around rock faces, throwing dirt on each other, playing games on a Learner’s phone, and just enjoying the scenery. It was a nice way to spend time together on what would turn out to be our last in-person day of the week.

Thursday weather

Morning meeting 29th

Then the thunderstorms rolled in. Or at least the forecast of thunderstorms which required us to cancel in-person meetups on Thursday. I don’t know if I’ve said it clearly enough, but I cannot stand remote days. They’re awful. I mean, they’re better than bringing people together during a pandemic where a single new infection can be devastating as it has the potential to lead to a super spreader event or a new mutation, but now that we are in an era where most people think that the pandemic is over the ideal is to be together as much as possible (read sarcasm). But lightning strikes are taken more seriously by most than a pandemic, so remote it (still) is.

Remote days don’t bring out the most joy and excitement in the Learners, and on this day it brought out only three Learners for the morning meeting. But I was able to engage those who did show up with some good prompts, in my opinion. First we discussed, “what social or economic issue do you think will have the biggest impact on your life?” Other than one young Learner who said he did not know (yet), the issues that we felt would have the biggest impact were climate change, pollution, a living wage, institutionalized violence, and inequality. Then we each talked about what we could do about it: modeling an ethical relationship with the natural world and supporting organizations that reconnect people ith nature, recycling (with a follow-on discussion of what recycling does and does not do), create structures to provide people with services for their needs, building relationships to address it as a movement, and no answer because the thought of inequality gave her a headache.

While we hold space for Learners by providing offerings or attending offerings, the idea of more Zoom or Discord meetups has not moved many Learners to show up for individual offerings. But on this day I did have a ‘rest of the year planning session’ offering which brought the three oldest Learners who were eager to share how we might be able to shift some of our pandemic measures.

Rest of the year planning session

Friday weather

Friday, unfortunately, was yet another inclement weather day as every hour but one carried the risk of thunderstorms. If only we had a huge campus with large indoor areas to move into during brief thunderstorms. But alas, those facilities are only available to public conventional schools and select private schools that feed off of a schooled society’s fears that without forcing kids to participate in a k-12 curriculum that the kids will end up as the big losers of a society that is predicated on most people being labeled as failures. Hmmmm…

The first thing I focused on on Friday was writing a blog post about some pretty politically charged school board races in the area that probably gives us a peek into what the 2022 midterm elections might look like. It took me a fair chunk of the day, but with the election upon us I felt it was important to share the concerns a Self-Directed Education community (whose members have shunned conventional schooling because public and private conventional schools do not meet their needs) had on public school board candidates who centered their campaigns on bigotry, exclusion, and harm.

Friday afternoon roundup

With Facilitators Ariel and Lauren much more comfortable with their roles as Facilitators I now have the luxury of stepping away from the every day Facilitation at times to focus on other necessary activities, and it is greatly appreciated. The turnout for the morning meeting was really strong, and after the meeting the Facilitators just hung out and chatted with each other on Zoom. As always with remote days, there was little engagement in the meat of the day as most of the Learners went off in multiple directions (virtual or not), although Facilitator Ariel and a teen Learner did find time for some gaming. We ended the day with a four-Learner afternoon roundup and lots of hopes that we could spend much more time in-person the next week.

Days 128 & 129 of AY20-21: paddle boarding, mulberries, snakes

Monday, April 26th, and Tuesday, April 27th were days 128 and 129 of the pandacademic year. I was super excited that we were going to be in-person given threats of thunderstorms. Before the day started, one of the guardians asked for clarification on mask wearing with vaccinated grandparents. Specifically, does an unvaccinated Learner need to quarantine if they are meeting with vaccinated parents and vaccinated grandparents? I thanked the guardian for asking to make sure that we are all on the same page and doing what we can to protect the community. And yes, if everyone except the Learner is vaccinated there is virtually zero risk of the Learner catching and spreading the disease, so no problem at all. While much of society has given up taking the pandemic seriously, I have such great appreciation for the Abrome community who continues to focus on how their actions impact others.

I’ll start with the other cell, the one I was not a member of. We continue to post daily updates on Instagram and Facilitator Ariel ran with the update on this day. His updates are so much lighter and more entertaining than mine are. Don’t believe me? Go check it out on our Instagram page.

The best news of the day was that a Learner who had long been remote because of the pandemic finally came back! He was the first Learner to enroll at Abrome so having him present with some of the newer Learners was great above and beyond just being able to enjoy his company again.

One of the Learners has really struggled since enrolling because of very late night or early morning gaming. Facilitator Ariel asked that Learner how he was feeling, and he said that he was feeling good because he did not stay up all night. Sounds like a winning formula!

Facilitator Ariel asked the Learners to come up with a plan for the day after they broke from the morning meeting. They not only planned where they wanted to spend their time, but they also came up with a water refill plan, which is fabulous because it is one of the practices we’ve been working on (because heat exhaustion is not cool).

It was a really great day for the crew. Not only did we welcome back an old face, but the Learners also found a jaw bone, a dead gecko, played some games on their phones, and caught a lizard. One of the Learners also brought a book for the first time, which was also great because we’ve been talking about ways that we could enjoy being by ourselves even when we are with others.

I had originally planned to be in-person with the other cell, but one Learner was suffering from a bad case of sunburn from the weekend, so he stayed home. That led to another adolescent Learner deciding that he would take the day off because the person he most wanted to hang out with would not be there. With two of three in a carpool calling out, the third one also opted out. Another younger Learner decided that they would stay at home, as well, while another Learner was on an extended family vacation. This left only one Learner for the cell that day. So Facilitator Lauren planned to spend a lot of quality time with the Learner while I went back to Abrome to work on some administrative tasks.

The Learner was initially bummed but he did not want to go home. Facilitator Lauren said, “let’s chill and eat snacks and see what day can look like.” As they discussed possibilities they chose to invite the Learner’s mom to join us. His mom said that it was a really good day for that, and soon showed up with chocolate popsicles. What a win!

The moved to the lake with the paddle board in tow, and along the way they collected and ate mulberries. A very yummy day was shaping up. The Learner was eager to help prepare the paddle board for launch, and spent a fair amount of time manually pumping it up. Eventually he and his mom set off on the lake and had a blast, with Facilitator Lauren also getting some time on it, as well. At the end of the day the young Learner said that paddle boarding was the funnest thing he’d ever done.

Because I was away doing admin work on Monday I chose to be in-person all day Tuesday. But with afternoon thunderstorms rolling in we had families plan for a half-day with an early pickup. It still turned out to be a fabulous (half) day though.

Learning about what folks missed out on the day before, there was intention to pick and eat mulberries, and to spend some time on the paddle board. So right after the morning meeting we headed toward the lake.

At the lake we began collecting the perfectly ripe mulberries and eating them. While we were collecting the mulberries one of the Learners noticed a snake hanging out near the base of the trees. We determined that it was not venomous, and it looked like one they had previously observed shedding.

After harvesting, the adolescent Learner who was eager to spend much of his day on the paddle board volunteered to pump it up. He made short work of it and then pushed off and did indeed spend much of his day on the water. He has excellent balance and never fell, which I thought was pretty impressive.

An adolescent Learner and I had planned to talk about Usual Cruelty, the book we both read the prior cycle, but because of the half day we pushed it off for a later date. Given that the month was almost over, and I had not yet jumped in the lake for my polar bear plunge all of April, I decided that today would be the day to squeeze it in. I asked if the adolescent Learner on the paddle board could withstand me jumping in the lake next to him without falling, and he told me to give it a shot. I did, and he stayed on, and the water was cold, making for a pretty exciting plunge.

As we settled down for the remainder of our short day we observed a water snake, had a conversation on the dock about our early Covid-19 experiences last spring, and then had a pretty engaging afternoon roundup. On our way back to the pickup point we had John and Lisa McQuackerson follow us, just as they had been doing all day. They really like mulberries.

Meanwhile, at the other cell everyone was present! We don’t mandate attendance at Abrome. In fact, we encourage Learners to take time off as they need it, and to take advantage of opportunities to engage with the world when they become available, instead of feeling as though they have to be at Abrome. Nonetheless, we do prefer that they show up, and given that some of the Learners in this cell struggle more to show up every day, it was thrilling to have everyone there. Our first ever enrolled Learner also got to meet the most recently enrolled Learner, for the first time.

The crew hiked to “the bowl” after the morning meeting, which was a welcome form of exercise considering that multiple Learners were not quite prepared for the weather. Seeing as it was a short day the walking took up much of the day, which worked out perfectly. When they settled in briefly at the bowl some of the Learners asked Facilitator Ariel about the Black Panther Party knowing that he was reading a book about Huey Newton. That led to tangential conversations about the complicated history of gun control and copwatching. But before the really good conversation could happen the half day came to an end. Fortunately, there will be opportunities for longer conversations soon.

Days 126 & 127 of AY20-21: let's check in on the other cell

The 22nd and 23rd of April were days 126 and 127 of the pandacademic year. On the 22nd I was away from the in-person Abrome meetup as I was focused on administrative work, and on the 23rd I had planned to be in-person but we were forced to go remote due to thunderstorms. I will continue to combine days for my ‘daily’ updates when I am away from my cell, or when inclement weather hits (and this is thunderstorm season). In this case, both of the days fit that bill.

My day away from the cell was a good one. I caught up on a lot of overdue administrative issues, connected with the guardian of a recently enrolled Learner, and spoke to some families who are looking into a possible Abrome enrollment for their children.

In my absence, at my cell, there was lots of laughter shared between Facilitator Lauren and two of the adolescent Learners. They chose to lay down on the dock as if they were going to sleep while eagerly engaging in conversation with all. In their disagreements with another adolescent over what peppermints really are, they talked about the possibility of playing tag games the next day.

Facilitator Lauren also spent a lot of time with a younger Learner. They walked around various parts of the park looking at plants. They ate some ripe mulberries and some intense wild onions, and had a cockel burr battle. They also found another bouquet of flowers thrown in the bushes. I guess someone had a photo shoot in nature because it is so beautiful out here, and then they just toss what they don’t want onto the ground. At least flowers will fairly quickly decompose. Facilitator Lauren also played some racing games with the youngest Learner, going slow, forward, and backward.

At the other cell, Facilitator Ariel and the other Learners were confronted with a large vulture at the entrance to the greenbelt where they tried to enter. The vulture was menacing, for sure, but the group did not know if it would be unwise or unsafe to try to skirt around it. Fortunately they had computers in their pockets so they pulled them out and did some quick searches. Turns out that vultures are completely harmless and will happily step aside if you try to pass them. In this instance, it actually run down the trail away from the group as they tried to enter the greenbelt.

In the park, an adolescent Learner chose to take the other Learners back to the waterfall that he and Facilitator Ariel stumbled upon the day before. After admiring the tiny waterfall, they continued to explore this region of the greenbelt. During the exploration they found a cliff with some wonderful views. They stopped to admire the view, and one of the Learners chose to test her nerves by finding a large rock to perch upon overlooking the valley.

It was a cold day, and everyone but one showed up better prepared for the weather. Recognizing the ways in which they were not prepared for the day, they decided that it was the right time to build a shelter. After the crew navigated back down to the riverbed, the Learner began collecting logs and branches to construct the shelter, and soon the other Learners joined in. It turned into more a work of art than a shelter, but the weather had improved so the utility of the shelter was no longer a priority. They all looked upon their work and were satisfied. Before they parted ways at the end of the day, they found a bouquet of flowers. What are the chances that two different cells ten miles apart would both find a bouquet of flowers?

Every day by 7:00 a.m. we make our call on whether it will be a late drop-off, early pick-up, or a cancelled in-person day due to inclement weather. On this day, with thunderstorms scheduled for each our of our 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. day, it was an easy call to go remote.

Remote days continue to not be great, especially on unplanned inclement weather remote days. We only had four Learners show up for the morning meeting and the Check-in and Change-up, but that was enough for a quorum. We don’t have a formal quorum number but any fewer Learners would have meant kicking the Check-in and Change-up to the following Monday.

One of the Learners showed up late while Facilitator Lauren was facilitating the morning meeting, and another Learner typed the prompts into the chat. It was a practice we had months ago, but it was fabulous to see Learners continuing to honor those practices. It’s how we co-create culture. The Check-in and Change-up was a long one. The longest one we’ve had in months. But it was a really good one, with four awarenesses being added to our blank Community Awareness Board (since it was our first Friday of the cycle). One of the newer Learners in the community who had proposed an awareness sent me a private message in the chat asking if he could leave after we came up with practices for his awareness. I asked him to stick it out because it would not feel good to me for him to leave without supporting everyone else they way they supported him. He chose to stick it out, which continues to demonstrate some pretty big leaps and bounds he has been making in terms of his willingness to consider how his actions might impact others. We came up with some really good practices to work with this cycle, and I felt really great about the meeting. No one showed up to the offerings, and only three Learners dropped in on the afternoon roundup, but that’s the way it goes with remote days.

Day 125 of AY20-21: saying goodbye to a friend

April 21st was day 125 of the pandacademic year and it was also our last day with a Learner who was moving to Los Angeles. We expected the day to be a sad one but we were determined to make it a special one nonetheless. Before the Learner who was leaving showed up, the Learner’s mom texted that he did not want a big deal made out of his final day, so we were planning to honor that. But I did tell him, I’m really going to miss you” just before I had planned to hand him a box of organic jelly beans that he often ruminated on when we were in our Flying Squad the prior cycle. But he cut me off with, “don’t say anything about that.” I said, “oh, well, I just wanted to give you something …” as I pulled the jelly beans out. He grabbed them, held them to his chest, and said, “oh my God, I love you!” I said, “you love me?!?”, and he said, “no, I’m talking to the jelly beans.” It was perfect.

Facilitator Lauren and I recognized that moving away from the lake for part of the day has had a really positive impact on that Learner’s daily experience, as well as others, so we were planning to ask if we could take a hike early in the day away from the lake and then we would consider returning to it, later. As the other five Learners began to trickle in, Facilitator Lauren noted that some of them seemed underdressed for the colder than usual morning weather, and offered them sweatshirts to wear and hand warmers, and multiple Learners accepted the offer. Instead of launching into the meeting when the final Learner showed, I floated the possibility of taking the hike before the morning meeting and then settling in for a meeting. Everyone agree, and we decided that we would take a walk to the second waterfall. When we took off I decided to pull out my speaker and play some songs for the Learner on the hike.

By the time we got to the first waterfall everyone was in a great mood thanks to the music, and one of the Learners asked if we could hold our meeting there instead of moving to the second waterfall. Everyone agreed, and we settled in, but first we decided to enjoy the scenery and jam out to some more music. There were multiple requests, and there was dancing.

When it was time for the meeting an adolescent Learner offered to be the game master, and then I facilitated the meeting. I stated with announcements, and then everyone shared their intentions for the day. Next, I began to tell them a story that was an adaptation of the allegory of the long spoons where in hell someone finds that everyone is stuck at a table with elbows that cannot bend, so they cannot eat the delicious food that is laid out before them. I was about to explain how the scene in heaven was similar in layout, but how everyone was able to eat. But before I could get there another adolescent Learner asked, “why don’t they just feed each other?” I was so thrilled that he figured out the solution, as in the heaven in the story people were just feeding each other. His question was so sincere that it was apparent that he had not heard the story before. Finally, each of us shared what gift we hope to be able to give the world.

After the morning meeting folks gravitated toward a long gentle flowing portion of the creek to skip rocks, with some ‘experts’ helping to show the others the best techniques to get multiple skips. They had a blast and I slipped away to record the daily update video on Instagram.

One of the younger Learners who has been quite apprehensive about charting his own path through high grasses and shrubs soon found himself drawn into exploration. It was nice to see him playing in the woods for a change.

After all the singing, dancing, rock skipping, and navigating through areas with no paths, the crew was ready to swing back by the drop off spot, fill up with water, and head back down to the lake for the rest of the day. We went back at different speeds, with me going back with some of the slower folks. Along the way I stumbled across two of the youngest Learners acting as human statues, and they did a pretty nice job of keeping their bodies and faces stiff.

As I passed the Learners they very quickly ran past me and found the mulberry tree and immediately began to evaluate the ripeness of the berries. Soon three of them were harvesting and eating them, and then they decided to climb the tree, as well.

What a yummy harvest!

At the dock, some of the Learners set up in their usual spots. One of the Learners decided to have a conversation with me about Usual Cruelty, a book she was still working through that I had recently finished. We talked about some of the individual stories in the book that she found upsetting, and I tried to highlight how the stories were intended to give a human face to what happens to countless people because of how the “criminal bureaucracy” works. The conversation was shorter than I had hoped, but it was great to see her take the initiative to chat about a book that we agreed to read.

Harder than it looks

Meanwhile, two of the other Learners were busy collecting fallen branches so they could carve them with their knives. After fashioning them into spears, and then breaking them so that no dogs would injure themselves, one of them invited the rest of us to a workout. I agreed to the workout, but said that I would have to modify some of the exercises because of my wrists. The Learner who was leading the workout emphasized that everyone should do what they felt comfortable with, but he warned us that it would be a bear of a workout. It was way more than a bear. It was a killer workout. By the time I barely finished I knew I would be feeling it for days. For me, the best part of the workout was listening to a variety of old school workout jams and some intentionally horrible music (recorded off beat, or off tune on purpose).

After the workout was finished we were spent. We each settled in and just tried to recover, while drinking water, of course. But everyone in the crew was kinda spent from the excitement of the day. Some of the younger Learners played along the ..edge of the lake while one of them focused his attention on the ducks. Another young Learner broke out her fuzzy notebook and used it to write.

We then came back together for the afternoon roundup, which one of the adolescent Learners volunteered to lead. She started with announcements and then shared two prompts focused on accomplishments and feelings of pride. But the ducks, John and Lisa McQuarkerson, ambled into the middle of a circle and stole the show. The adolescent Learner then took charge of the meeting again, and we each responded to the prompts.

Saying goodbye

We then made our way back to the pickup point where each Learner said their goodbyes to the departing Learner, and then went home. At the very end of the day I pulled out a card that the Facilitators had signed for the departing Learner, and another box of jelly beans. He did not even notice the jelly beans at first. The last thing he said to me and Facilitator Lauren was “ciao!” We are really going to miss him.

Meanwhile, at the other cell, they went chasing waterfalls, spent time pondering the meaning of life (or appreciating the beauty in nature), found some cool looking rocks, and took some naps.

Not sticking to the rivers and lakes

It is beautiful out here

Don’t worry, he’s not a giant about to drop a rock on another Learner

Catching up on sleep

Day 124 of AY20-21: a tale of two cells

Tuesday, April 20th was the second day of cycle nine and my first remote day. With both Facilitators Ariel and Lauren thriving as Facilitators I am taking a step back twice a week to focus on supporting prospective families and on tying up some loose ends administratively. Even though I am not going to be physically present twice a week, I planned to be in touch with Facilitator Lauren and available if she needed my support.

Day two was a beautiful, gorgeous day and the Learners showed up in really good moods. There positive moods helped lead into effortless and fun activities and discovery to include picking mulberries that are not quite ripe yet. Also, one of the Learners decided to showcase his beatbox skills while the other showed us some pretty classic dance moves. If they were born thirty years earlier they might have been child stars!

Mulberries!

The day was a great one for moving around, and two of the adolescent Learners came to Abrome with intentions to workout. One of the Learners went on a job, and another Learner led a workout that Facilitator Lauren participated in. It was a pretty intense workout, and the Learner said he plans to do the workout four times per week! One of the younger Learners watched the workout, but insisted that he was uninterested in participating in it. After the workout was over, the Learner walked away from the group to be by himself further down the shoreline. He was later seen doing his own pushups!

In addition to working out, there was also plenty of water drinking. Facilitator Lauren helped facilitate the drinking with a game of ‘never have I ever,’ and she also handed out some electrolyte packets for the Learners to put in their water bottles. The drinking game went so well that a younger Learner who has never been comfortable going to the bathroom at Abrome decided to nature pee twice. A pretty monumental step forward.

Although no one really got in water deeper than their ankles, there was a lot of time spent next to the water. One of the coolest observations of the day was seeing a water snake just floating on the surface of the lake. The Learners have largely moved on from being afraid of snakes to being aware of them, which is wonderful all around.

Two of the Learners stayed on the dock of the lake while three younger Learners walked to a waterfall where there was much more shade as they found it getting hot at the lake. And although few people found their way into the water on this day, all of them committed to getting into the water on Wednesday.

The snake was not the only animal that we appreciated on this day. There was a fuzzy caterpillar that we came across that looked like it could be menacing. One of the Learners offered Facilitator Lauren ten dollars to touch it, but she passed on the offer. But thanks, anyway!

Exhausted

The day was exhilarating but exhausting, and the Learners left quite content with the ways in which they chose to spend their day.

It was a slow day for the other cell, and a good one for reading. An adolescent read 200 pages of her book, and Facilitator Ariel finished the second of three long essays in Usual Cruelty. Another Learner who said he was not into reading books had a nice conversation with Facilitator Ariel, and it turns out there are some books that he likes. Facilitator Ariel then let the learner borrow his copy of The Sandman by Neil Gaiman. When the Learner was finished with the book he took a nap. The other Learner took out a knife and carved out some eating utensils for lunch.

The other cell is also a small one, but on this day they got word that a Learner who has been out since the winter Covid-19 wave may be coming back this week, as he got his second vaccination shot! As of day 124 of the pandacademic year we have four Facilitators fully vaccinated, and four Learners at least partially vaccinated!

Day 123 of AY20-21: back in-person!

Monday, April 19th was the first day of cycle 9, and it marked my return to a nature setting after spending the prior cycle in a Flying Squad specialty cell in downtown Austin. I was also excited to be back with three Learners I had not shared a cell with in quite some time. Unfortunately, one was on an extended vacation and was not expecting to join us until the last week of the cycle. But on this Monday, I got to hang out with six Learners and Facilitator Lauren, which is pretty great.

For the morning meeting we discussed what practices from the prior cycle we felt were important, and how we wanted to spend our time this cycle. After the meeting everyone was eager to head to the lake. Along the way two of the adolescent Learners stumbled upon and sampled some honeysuckles, and then did the same with mulberries they found. Facilitator Lauren who had been munching on them with some of the younger Learners the prior cycle also got her fill of the mulberries. Facilitator Lauren would later show the two adolescent Learners some evening primrose which they then sampled, as well. I don’t know that we are ready to live off the land quite yet, but we are learning bit by bit, and chomp by chomp.

At the lake we found that a crew was working on the dock, and it was loud, so the Learners were forced to move to a spot next to the lake where they usually do not spend much time. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, and there was no need for us to seek a shaded area to escape from the sun.

The younger Learners found a lot of joy in walking along the retaining wall along the lake, jumping between the wall and the shore, and in checking in on John and Lisa, the two ducks that have become our friends.

One of the adolescent Learners broke out his speakers and began playing some of his favorite songs, while also supporting a variety of requests along the way. As the conversation shifted from topic to topic we began to play songs from different generations. Another adolescent Learner began reminiscing about our visit to Rivers & Roads ALC in Oklahoma City before the pandemic hit, and asked if I remembered us singing to “I Want It That Way” by the Backstreet Boys on the 9 hour drive. I did not, but when the song began to play I was ready to give it another try. At first the Learners held back because I was filming, but they got over it and began to sing, and even kept going after I ruined the moment with my out of tune efforts.

The younger Learners were moving around a lot that day, creating uniquely artistic spears, investigating the flora and fauna on some nearby trails, and climbing trees.

The movement of the younger Learners eventually pulled the Facilitators and the adolescent Learners off of their butts and into walking, exploring, and running mode. At some point a woman came over with her dog, and the Learners were drawn into it. It was a sweet dog, and we are pretty good about asking permission to pet dogs, so there was little problem with the woman’s presence. The only thing was, she was not wearing a mask and was getting a bit close to one of the Learners. I was thrilled to see that the Learner, instead of just allowing the lady to talk so close to her, effortlessly pulled out her mask and put it on.

Two of the adolescent Learners then asked me if I brought my soccer ball, so I pulled it out and we went into the field to kick it around. Meanwhile, the other adolescent Learner got on the phone and tried to schedule an appointment that she had not been able to make as she kept getting the runaround. After being put on hold and being patched through to others, she finally got her appointment scheduled.

Then things slowed down a bit as the Learners enjoyed the view of the lake. By this time the folks working on the dock had finished up, and we learned that we could get some pretty excellent echo action in if we yelled across the lake. Meanwhile, one of the younger Learners asked Facilitator Lauren if she could borrow some colored pencils and paper to work on a project.

Things picked up again once a younger Learner noticed a centipede crawling on his backpack. He asked for support in extracting his backpack from the grip(s) of the centipede, and then he and everyone else gathered around to watch the giant Texas redheaded centipede looking fearsome.

Not long thereafter, I got a text from one of the Abrome guardians who told me that there was an opportunity for walk-in vaccinations for anyone 16-years-old or older in east Austin. For the second day in a row the people administering the vaccines anticipated not being able to use up all of the shots that they had planned to that day. I turned to the two adolescent Learners who had not yet been vaccinated and asked them if one of their parents would be able to take them to get the shots, immediately. They both jumped on their phones and one of the parents said they could come pick them up and take them to the vaccination site, while the other parent blessed off on her son getting the shot. Never before had I been so thrilled to see Learners leaving Abrome early, even though they also took the other adolescent Learner who was there that day (sibling, carpool).

The remaining three Learners continued to run around, climb trees, eat mulberry bushes, and splash around in the water. But when they finally slowed down, Facilitator Lauren invited them to play a game of ‘never have I ever,’ with the intention of getting folks to drink more water. The game eventually morphed into ‘would you rather,’ with the continued intention of drinking water.

It was a pretty epic game, and my favorite question was one that I brought up: would you rather eat someone else’s booger, or not eat ice cream for the rest of your life? Both Learners squirmed a bit but then said that they would rather eat someone else’s booger. I said, “ew, gross!” Then the one Learner said softly to herself, “but I looooove ice cream …”

The day ended shortly thereafter, but not before we agreed to take a longer walk back along a trail that we have rarely walked along as a crew. It was a pretty magical first day back. Oh yeah, and the two Learners who left early were able to get their first Covid-19 vaccination shots!

Meanwhile, at the other cell there was hiking, conversations about community, napping, and celebrating the fact that the day was the first official day for a newly enrolled Learner!!

Day 101 of AY20-21: talking about being good neighbors

At 9:30 a.m. the three Facilitators got on a call with each other to talk about the week ahead. Facilitator Lauren had been concerned by all the ticks she has seen at the spot that her cell is in, so she shared some information with us about how to protect Learners from ticks. Facilitator Ariel then offered to share that information on our Linktree, an Instagram post, an Instagram story, and to share it in on our internal facebook group.

I also shared an Instagram post to let our newer followers know that the Abrome community prioritized community care, safety, and being together since the earliest days of the pandemic, and that I have been posting about every day of this pandacademic year (although often a couple days behind, like today).

Also, since the new year I have been doing a lot of reading. Currently I am most interested in reading books about supporting young people and everything education (with or without schooling), abolition, Black liberation, the criminal injustice system, business and entrepreneurship, and I am trying to pepper in a lot more fiction, as well.

Over the weekend I finished my 24th book of 2021, A Good Neighborhood by Therese Anne Fowler. The key word is finished, because in addition to reading entire books I am also finishing off books that I had partly read and put down for weeks, months, and even years. The reason I bring this up is because I found A Good Neighborhood to be such a fabulous read that it gave me an idea for the morning prompts on Monday.

I started with, “what does it mean to be a good neighbor?” I don’t want to spoil anything so I’ll just say that in the novel being a good neighbor could mean not going into a new neighborhood and destroying what was already there, welcoming others in, allowing people to get away with harm to reduce conflict, or simply not going out of one’s way to destroy someone else’s life. For the Learners at Abrome they believed that being a good neighbor meant doing nothing that would interfere with others enjoying life, being there for them, respecting their personal space and property, sharing, being mindful of noise levels, be friendly, and loaning them something when they need it.

I then followed up with, “what makes a good neighborhood?” The novel touched on factors such as connection, community, gentrification, and race. The Learners said that a good neighborhood is where people check in on each other, where people meet each others’ needs without expecting something in return, where neighbors are friends, were everyone shares and is nice, where nobody is a jerk and everyone is nice, low crime, and where everyone shares. We briefly discussed what “low crime” means and given that the Learner who brought it up has committed to reading Usual Cruelty with us (more on that tomorrow) I think that we will get to dive deeper into that notion more in the near future.

After the morning meeting I asked if any of the Learners wanted to join me for the daily hike up the hill. They all said no, with some offering up excuses for not coming. Facilitator Ariel said he would like to go, and we asked only that all the Learners stay together until we got back. They agreed, and Facilitator Ariel and I climbed up the hill and then settled in for the morning meeting with the two Learners who showed up. Those two happened to be the two who said they were going to write a letter to Texas Governor Greg Abbott to let him know that they disagreed with his decision to prematurely end the mask mandate and end capacity constraints on businesses. One of the Learners had already sent in his letter via email, and the other Learner told me that she had written it out and was ready to mail it. I was later sent a picture of the letter by her mom and I’ll just say that it was a far more generous letter than I could have written, and as her mom said, it is better than he deserves.

At the other cell ten miles away the cloud cover seemed to calm the Learners down from their higher energy first week of the cell. Facilitator Lauren spoke with the Learners about the Flying Squad specialty cell that was scheduled for the coming cycle, although the Learner most likely to want to participate in it was too busy engaging with all the nature around him that he seemed to have missed much of the conversation.

Recognizing that the conversation was not helping the Learners they decided to explore. They went to a new place where they got to see a skink and a squirrel, and attempted to move in on each one of them. Both easily evaded the humans.

Facilitator Lauren helped identify a bunch of edible plants that were safe to eat in the area, and everyone gave the plants a try. While the Learners didn’t take to the plants like they take to hot chocolate and marshmallows they gave it a thumbs up. Or at least a thumbs sideways.

They also made the most of sticky weed as an accessory. In addition to making crows with the sticky weeds they also used it to provide camouflage, and even tried to cover Facilitator Lauren completely in it.

The pictures and videos that Facilitator Lauren took were great. One thing we really focused on this year was making sure that we captured great images of what was happening at Abrome, with the Learners’ consent, of course. At one point I did have to step in and kindly asked them to avoid vertical video syndrome, which I learned about in my copwatching days. Vertical videos can make an amazing video just ok, and a good video junk. I bring this up because Facilitator Ariel told me that he was making a vertical video, realized it and stopped, flipped the phone, and took a horizontal video! I love moments like that.

Back at the cell that Facilitator Ariel and I were in, the Learners took an empty plastic bottle that someone had left on the dock and filled it with pecan shells. Then they turned it into a game. The game was not complicated, it was just a form of playing catch on the dock on the lake. But there were some twists. If the bottle were to fall in the water because you dropped it you had to get the bottle out of the water. The exception to this was that if the person who threw it was careless in the throw then they had to get the bottle out of the water. If the bottle was near enough to the dock it would be easy enough to fish it out with a light saber (inactive). However, if the current pulled it away or the throw was bad, then it would require a Learner to jump in. And the water was cold. Lucky for all involved no one had to jump in.

While they were playing I reviewed an Edutopia video on 7 Tips for Moving Learning Outside for schools. What a disappointment. This pandemic has really highlighted the lack of creativity and innovation from conventional schools, and exposed their absolute inability to reform themselves in a way that would best serve their students and the general public. Thank goodness Self-Directed Education is an option for most young people.

And Facilitator Ariel and I had a planned discussion on Self-Directed Education and Flying Squads planned that afternoon, and we had invited the Learners to participate in it with us. We asked the Learners if they were ready for the planned 2:00 p.m. discussion, but they were in the process of transitioning from the game they were playing with the pecan filled bottle on the dock to a game of monkey in the middle with the same pecan filled bottle in the middle of the large field adjacent to the lake. They said they wanted to do both but really wanted to play monkey in the middle, and they wanted us to play, as well. I offered that we could play with them for a half hour and then they could join us in the conversation, to which one Learner said that he was not interested in the conversation, but the others all said yes.

We then played some pretty intense rounds of monkey in the middle. There was a lot of diving on the ground, some wrestling, and some sore hands as one of the Learners though the best strategy was to rifle the bottle to the other people in the circle. One of the Learners even managed to end up with a garbage can on his back after he dove into it going after the bottle. Fortunately no one was injured, and doubly fortunately I think we got some really great GoPro footage of it. Although such footage is not available quite yet and could not make it into this blog post.

Self-Directed Education and Flying Squad conversation

After the game the Learners all moved back to the dock for the meeting, and the Learner who said he was uninterested in joining in on the meeting joined nonetheless because that was what all of the other Learners chose to do.

The conversation was really great, as we had some Learners who had been with us before the pandemic hit, some who joined at the beginning of the pandacademic year, and Facilitator Ariel and a Learner who joined midyear. We talked about why Self-Directed Education was meaningful for each of them, what they were getting out of Abrome, what surprised them, and the shortcomings of SDE. Then we discussed Flying Squads in particular because of the Flying Squad day that was scheduled for Wednesday.

At 3:00 p.m. I hosted the afternoon roundup for the remote Learners, during which we discussed what job we would want to have if we were forced to take a job. I said that I would be doing exactly this, and fortunate me, this is what I am doing. I then joined the in-person cell again and we held our 3:30 p.m. afternoon roundup. One of the Learner’s asked us to jump in for game shifting and then Facilitator Ariel asked three prompts, of which I found the follow up to the morning prompts of “why is it important to be a good neighbor?” to be the most interesting. The Learners replied, when you need something from them they’ll be there to help you, it feels good when I’m nice to others, we are all better off when we support each other, it makes others and ourselves feel happy and to not be known as a douchebag, it’s nice to have friends and makes you feel better and live longer, and we need to take care of the people around us because the government sucks. Then we walked back to the pick-up spot to call it a day. We stopped briefly to appreciate the carpenter ants back at work.