Still walking

Except two days were spent at the state capitol.  Some photo ops.  The large crowd outside was from a rally on the Capitol steps.

Sunny Monday in Charleston

This picture doesn’t do the crowd justice.

The first grade teacher and I hanging out on the capitol steps yesterday.

(You can always count on your best girl school pal to make sure

you share a good photo.)

Let the kids carry the signs...  

It’s been seven days.  The 20 republicans in the state senate are the ones holding the voting power.  They are tabling the vote to vote every time with various excuses.  The money the governor added to the revenue budget isn’t there is one.  A vindictive senate chair says "well if it’s about insurance and not the raise, we'll lower the % of the raise (5-2%) and put the imaginary money into the insurance fund."  The governor walked into a town hall held at a high school saying "you’re not going to shoot me, are you?"  At the next town hall he referred to all of the striking employees as rednecks.

There have been plenty of great signs.  My red 55United t-shirt feels like it’s become a uniform.  After 2 trips to the capitol in one week I gave myself the day off.  Today I sent an email to our superintendent thanking him for his support.  A nearby county canceling announcement read "wetzel county schools will be closed tomorrow and let’s just say it’s not due to weather."

It feels futile to be shouting in front of the doors to the state government as they are clearly working on their own agenda. The first day felt inspiring.  The second day was discouraging and weird.  Like you don’t want to get too attached to the shouts because it’s likely not going to end well.

It’s one of those times where you don’t know what’s going to happen and checking Facebook every 5 minutes doesn’t tell you any sooner.

Cold wet and eventually floody

We walked the line.  It poured. It was cold. I went home when the flood warnings began.  I was done.  For the record, the redneck version of honk if you support is to rev your big truck engine.  We got at least three of those.  I didn’t have a sign but thought of one while I was there.  "Honk if I was your teacher."

Secretary Sandy carried the winning sign.

This little guy lived next door to the "line" and likely got up early with all of the coal truck horns honking.  He brought out some little Debbie strawberry marshmallow treats to pass out.

It should be warmer tomorrow.  And a little less rain.  And I will remember my camp chair. And bring some lunch.

Dinner tonight roasted rutabaga and sweet potato.  This is a good combination.  Sweet and not so much.  Red pepper and garlic powder as spices are always wins.  I tried a little coriander and ginger.  Maybe too little to notice.  Also we continue to be winning the tens column reduction. 

Items.

Item the one- new favorite food experiment.  Black beans and wild rice.  I didn’t know what a rare commodity wild rice was until I tried to find it. Amazon to the rescue but a word to kmkat saying a special thanks for leading me to it initially.

Item two- drawing? Once again not so much.  I’ll just have to draw when I feel like it and have that be good enough.  I did try the kids dancing around the tree-something I would not have done without the course.

Every school in the state of wv is closed tomorrow and Friday.  An informational picket line- 45 degrees, 100% chance of rain. Walmart muck boots and camping rain coat to the rescue. Those not inclined to picket in the rain can help serve community prepared meals to the kids missing lunch from 10-2. I don’t have a sign because all I could think of was "hell no, we won’t go." And greathusbandbob reminded me that that’s more of an anti war slogan.he also informed me that we need a burn can and an American flag if we want to be legit.

Guilt tripped the high school kids for being lazy.  It worked. They came in eager today to show me the work they did outside of class on the assignment. As a teacher of high school kids I think if you can say "I’m disappointed in the quality of work you did" and your opinion matters, it’s as close to getting them excited about learning as you can hope for. At least for this year. I’m looking forward to getting a do-over with this class next year.  That big feeling of "you don’t know what you don’t know" from August has been replaced with the new plan.

Finally, high school kids taking a stand about gun control. Go kids! Because up until I saw them fight I was wearing a heavy coat of grief for them all.  That’s still here but underneath it is a little armor and pride for those kids that are stepping it up.