Back in the classroom...

 

No, we are not in Phoenix and not in our daughter's class.  No, I didn't decide to take up something that requires a "study habit."

Last week, there was a discussion about our swing bridge on a FaceBook Group... seems that some people get a bit bent out of shape when the bridge is open and they have to wait a few minutes for boat traffic to pass.  Reading through the comments, it was so apparent that a vast majority of people (even people on this island) don't understand WHY the bridge opens when it does... they just know it inconveniences them when they just want to cross the bridge.

I generally stay out of those "discussions," but one lady asked a couple of intelligent questions and wanted to know why barge traffic has to go through our bridge instead of just continuing south to the Brownsville Ship Channel.  Since she seemed truly curious, I answered and explained why things are they way they are.

I got a private message from her right away, asking if I would speak to her 4th and 5th grade students on "transportation" and more specifically how things are done here in the Tropical Tip.  Zoom meeting, not in person.  I agreed, and yesterday was that Zoom meeting.  I spoke for a while, then opened it up for questions... every hand went up.  I let her pick the people to ask questions, and I answered them to the best of my knowledge.  We ran out of time and didn't get all the questions answered.  After she excused the kids, she asked if I would be willing to do that again or if the kids could submit questions to me in writing to be answered.

I said I would be happy to do whichever was best for her... truth be told, I was relieved when she asked if we could do another Zoom meeting next week... I really didn't want to have "homework" to answer.  ;-)

So, I can't be in Steph's class, but I can still share with some young minds.  This is an after-school, extra-curricular class, so you have kids that are interested in this stuff.  The teacher is very upbeat and excited, so the participation is good.  Next week, same start time... an hour instead of the half hour this time.

Education is a good thing.

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Our Civic Duty...

No, that's not the price you pay to import a Honda Civic.  We took advantage of "early voting" to avoid the lines at the polls.  The number of people running for the different offices is staggering (this, for the primary).  To go with that, there were 10 propositions that people are trying to get on the ballot at the state level.  Joan did the research on the candidates... a bunch of people who want to run for Governor to unseat Abbot (the incumbent)... seems to me that some people just wanted to get their name on the ballot, with no chance of getting elected.  A waste of time, if you ask me, but I appreciate Joan's diligence in researching the many candidates.

Together, we discussed what each of the propositions really means.  Some of them seem to be written to intentionally be confusing.  We don't agree on all of them, but I feel we had a good handle on what they were proposing.  It's our civic duty, but wading through this confirms in my mind what a mess the business of politics is in...

What's that?  Iron Mountain Road?  No, we weren't voting for that great road - it was on the t-shirt I wore today.  With the wind gusting into the upper 40s today, I had no desire to be riding, but I could still daydream about riding.  :-)