The Distance

 

There are things that are not too bad about the distance learning gig.  I will discuss them thusly:

1.  When I work with a small group for 20 minutes, there are no interruptions.  We just work together and I don't have to yell out to anyone across the room to please get focused nor do I have to write a health pass because someone has an itchy bug bite on their leg nor do I have to answer urgent questions from Thirdlanders who just remembered something they need to ask me.

2.  In the afternoons, kids pop in on on our Teams Meeting to work on their haiku with me.  Sometimes they stay for a long time and we get a lot of haiku writing done.  Again, with no interruptions.  It feels so weird talking to one Thirdlander for 30 minutes about their work.  Usually I have about 2 minutes tops to work with a kiddo before moving on in a harried rush. One Thirdlander was stretching out her visit with me and when I said we had to wrap it up, she said, "But I just want to be with you."  Once again, bittersweetness rears its head. 

3.  Thirdlanders are making movies for some assignments.  And though I always groan a teeny bit when I see a movie's been submitted because the movies are time consuming to watch, I end up laughing or smiling 100% of the time when I watch these movies.  The Thirdlanders are super creative and sometimes their younger sibs or their pets make surprise appearances in their productions.

That's mostly what I like about the distance learning at this point in time.  There are definite down sides, but we'll ignore those for now.  The bottom line is...going the distance is hard on most everyone. I really feel bad for the parents who I can see are juggling so much.  

Here's a random tangential aside.  We went to TC Steele State Park yesterday.  They have a new visitor center and a new admission fee.  TC Steele has always been free, but I'm happy to throw some cash their way now.  That place always brings me cheer.  Come to find out, Husbandman qualified for the senior 60 discount.  Though I'm 59 for a few more months, Husbandman told the ranger that I was close to being 60 as well, so the ranger decided to give me the discount too.  My first discount for being old.  At first I wasn't too happy about Husbandman telling my age, but as we traversed the gardens, I came to look upon the two dollar discount in a positive light.