2019 Life Logs, Day 124: It Takes a Village
Date: Saturday, May 4, 2019
Weather: Rain Overnight, Overcast Day with Some Rain; High 56, Low 47 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
One day this week when I was talking to Jed about weekend plans, it became apparent to me that he and Heather could use some help today. Today he had to go with Sam to Martha’s Vineyard for a soccer game. That meant they had to leave home by 8:30 am and wouldn’t get home until 3:30 pm. Heather has worked for two years to get a courtyard for outdoor learning up and running at the elementary school and this morning was a major worktime for the ‘village’ landscaper and parent volunteers, so she needed to be there. And then she had to be in Boston by 2:30 pm to be the emcee for the awards ceremony for the State Science Fair. So, I suggested to Jed, and then yesterday to Heather, that I come over at 8:30 this morning and take care of Jonah and Ollie for the day. 
It takes a village . . . to develop a wonderful outdoor learning space at a school and to take care of grandkids while parents are off doing wonderful things like encouraging young people to become scientists by enthusiastically emceeing the State Science Fair awards ceremony.
Jonah, Ollie, neighbor Joey (whose grandmother was also kidsitting today), and I watched a soccer game this morning and then I took them to the elementary school to play football and to get a glimpse of the work Heather and her ‘village’ were doing on the courtyard. The boys found a great patch of grass for throwing the football back and forth and a sandy patch for drawing out their plans.
?
?
And Heather was overseeing the landscaping in the courtyard around the pergola they installed a year or so ago. There were parents, kids, and AmeriCorps volunteers at work.
?
We all came home for lunch. Heather did a quick change and headed to Boston and then the mother of one of Ollie’s friends, another member of the ‘village’, picked him up to take him to a birthday party. Jonah and I stayed home and folded laundry and played Clue. Before we knew it, Jed was home with Sam. Then it was time for Jonah to go to a soccer scrimmage. Jed had a grant due yesterday and was up until almost 5 am on Friday morning. By the time he got home this afternoon from a ferry trip to Martha’s Vineyard for Sam’s soccer game, he looked absolutely wiped out. So, I volunteered to take Jonah to his scrimmage and stay to bring him home. Hopefully Jed made it until Heather returned from Boston tonight. It has been an unbelievably busy week for both of them. I don’t see anything on the calendar until 3 pm tomorrow, so hopefully they can have a slow Sunday morning to regroup energy. I plan to also have a slow Sunday morning—not because I need it, but because I like it. I honestly feel energized just by being part of the village that makes all this crazy activity possible.
