Kindergarten with No Children

Yesterday was chilly and drizzly, yet timeless and heavenly. Our Early Childhood team had a day's retreat at the preschool. We brought lovely snack food and grazed constantly on breads, fresh goat cheese, baba ganoush, salsa and lime chili chips, and lots of fresh fruit.

During the morning we each were paired with one other for a half hour and then switched to another partner (snatching a snack in between.) As we talked we strolled through the neighborhood, peering into gated gardens or walking along the old acequia that the preschoolers play in. We each had a half hour to ourselves, and I spread some sheepskins on the floor and took a nap.

After a lunch of tamales, we drove to the Santa Fe Canyon Nature Preserve. There we walked to the pond that is home to bullrushes, red wing blackbirds, swallows, and a host of other birds. We sat for a good while in silence, just listening to the birds and the water, feeling the breezes, smelling the sweetness, and watching the birdswith their full-throated singing and their exuberant swooping.

Farther on we saw an elegant gopher snake gliding through the vegetation. We came to the beaver dam and saw the lodge. The trees that had been felled were striking, and we noticed that other trees had protective fencing around them.

Back at the preschool we warmed up with hot chai and then painted, made paper and chatted.It was a wonderful day, marred only a bit at the last by a visit from the administrator, reluctantly telling us that we should be thinking of various scenarios to save money if enrollment is down significantly. And also that the offer made to the 1st grade candidate was rejected - she is going to another school.

Nevertheless, it was a wonderfully restorative day.