Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Three Beautiful Things 09/08/14: Giant Plastic Bags, Old and New School Navigation, The Deke Earns Trust

1.  The checker at Giant supermarket had all the stats for me about the harm plastic bags do to the world around us and gave a pretty impressive lecture as she scanned my groceries.   I agreed with her, but also said I was grateful to have these bags when following my dogs so I have something to use to pick up their mess.  She agreed that the bags were good for that.  When she told me to have a good evening, I think she meant it.

2.  I don't carry a Global Positioning System in my pocket.  Yet. Nor do I have one plugged into the cigarette lighter in the car.  I rely on google maps or mapquest for help with routes and I spend an inordinate amount of time studying maps wherever I am:  Portland, London, Washington D. C., or, as I did today, Alexandria.  Molly and I wanted Chinese food from South China, a dive on Mt. Vernon Street about six miles away, in a section of Alexandria unfamiliar to me.  I consulted google.  I read the map.  I took notes.  I tried to envision the route before I left the house.  It all worked.  With a few errors easy to recover from, I made it China South, made it back, and Molly and I enjoyed our carry out dinner -- and the Deke enjoyed our leftovers when she returned home later in the evening.

3.  It was Parents' Night at Robert Goddard French Immersion Elementary School.   The Deke arrived home really happy that she the parents got along really well and that she presented herself successfully to them -- by successfully, I mean she earned their trust more fully and enjoyed talking with the parents.  This is huge.  Huge.  I mean HUGE in the ongoing challenge of being a successful elementary school teacher -- and especially huge as the Deke learns to work in a school so very different than Charlemagne in Eugene. 

No comments: