This afternoon Truett asked how my day went at school. "It was okay," I responded. Then I wrote paychecks for the employees. Yet, as I was driving to the post office after having written paychecks and checks to other sources, I was thinking, "Just another ordinary day." So then I really started thinking, "Okay, you just spent eight hours of your life and all you came up with was ordinary day. Pooh pooh on you."
That's when I really thought about the moments of the day. The highlights and lowlights. This is what I came up with:
This morning I watched a 100-year oak tree topple to the ground. No, it just didn't keel over. Last week we had high winds in Fort White and a heavy limb of this century old tree fell on top of a teacher's car. Totaled it. So we were told the tree was coming down. So at 9:00 a.m. my class of first graders came to my room. I told them to follow me because I wanted to watch the men cut down this huge old oak. "Will it make a loud boom?" one child asked. "I'm scared," another child whined. "Save our trees!" a dark-haired boy shouted. "Where will the animals live?" another girl asked.These were all valid concerns and questions and I answered each one in rapid succession, "Yes. It's okay. Yes, save our trees. They'll live in that tree." As a teacher, you have to think quick and answer quick.
So here's the scene. The electric company has tied a rope or cable around the upper trunk of the oak and has backed up until the rope was taut. It reminded me of cowboys lassoing a wild horse or bull.Then one poor fellow began sawing about five feet up the tree trunk with his chain saw. Bzzzzzz! Bzzzzz! I can tell you right now that this poor fellow did the hardest work, but it only took about fifteen minutes before the grand finale.
So there we are. Twelve little munchkins and I are lined up peering through the chain length fence. We see four workmen walk backwards toward our gym. The white electric company truck revved its engine and began backing up. That's when the children and I watched an amazing sight. The century old oak tree did indeed topple. Not with a loud boom which I seriously expected, but with a WHUMP! followed by a pop.pop,pop,pop,pop.
One little girl said, "That sounded like fire crackers," and she was right. There was no boom that we all expected. Just pop,pop,pop,pop,pop. The branches were snapping off. The children chose not to write about what they saw, but I know they can recognize the sound of an oak tree falling to the ground.
I've learned there are no ordinary days -especially if you're a teacher! :)
I bet your kids will one day write about the tree coming down. It has great potential.
Posted by: tina | May 23, 2008 at 05:05 AM