First Day of Public School in Our Endless Pandemic

Yesterday, I made this Facebook post:

"Today is the first day of school in my county, Broward. On my walk, I saw a young woman in a cheerleading outfit and pom poms. She said, "Yay, first day of school," and she gave the pom poms a shake before loading the car.

Even though I know that the school situation in Broward county is fraught with peril for everybody, her enthusiasm made me happy. And then I said a prayer for safety, a prayer to the Creator, our greatest cheerleader."

I noticed the uptick in traffic even as I walked.  I need to give myself a bit more time to get to school, and I need to remember where school zones are so that I can avoid them.  I came home at 10 to get ready for an 11:00 Teams meeting; I needed to come home because we still have no technology at school.  It was notable how empty the streets were, once the K-12 students got settled into school.

I left my campus for the day at 5, and I was surprised by how many school busses are still on the road at that time.  I was behind a bus and a guy my age in a speedy convertible.  I wondered if it's annoying to have to keep shifting because of the bus, or if the joy of a stick shift is part of the appeal of a car like that, even if one is shifting between first and second gear on a neighborhood street.

I thought of convertibles, what they represent, that freedom, even though most people I know who have had convertibles have had issues with leaking.  I had a sudden urge to be driving a convertible on a deserted road where I could drive faster than I was going, behind a school bus and a slow convertible.  And then I got an idea for a poem, which I will write today at school, during day 4 of our technology being inaccessible.