When Ryder and I mounted Silver Cloud for the ride home from SIU, I asked him which way he wanted to go--this way (through town) or that (skirting town on the south)? He said "the long way." And so we headed east on old 13, south on Spillway over to Grassy Road and back to Giant City Road. A 25 mile detour. And it was splendid. The late afternoon sun filtering through the dense trees creating a tapestry on the tarmac. Nice twisty turns, shifting down then accelerating , wrapping around the curve. Crab Orchard on the right, glowing in the late rays blue sky puff cloud green and vast, serene, no cars on the road, just me and my boy. Big boy that he is too, wearing him mom's jean jacket, as tall as her shoulder now. Today I dropped him at school too, much to his delight. He keeps threatening to blow up my bicycle so I can ride him to the Carbondale New School (CNS) every day. CNS is turning out to be even better than we hoped. The combined 2-3 grades are just 15 kids for Ms. Laurie. She is a very talented, creative and involved teacher. Our school experience so far this year is so much more favorable than Lincoln school last year-- and it is one of the best of its kind-- public school with 22 kids per teacher and an assessment based curriculum, teaching to the lowest common denominator. I have nothing but respect and appreciation for how truly good Lincoln school is and how good the teachers are. But there is really no fair comparison to CNS. A play ground in the woods, a funky looking big old ranch style house converted into two levels with the common areas in the 1/2 basement, and the class rooms upstairs. Ryder's class room is filled with animals, books, legos, and all the usual teaching materials. Ryder is doing math next door in the 4-5 classroom and after a two week trial, he has been permanently recruited to the next grade up for math. His new best buddy at CNS is in the fourth grade, so it works out well. The best evidence is how much Ryder is liking school this year.
Last night we attended the corporation meeting for the school. Every parent and family is part of the CNS corporation. The meeting was efficiently run and as all the parents, some 30 or so of us sat hunkered down on child sized benches surrounding the room. Quite an interesting group of folks. Most parents older than average, but a good range, and some very cool looking people. After the meeting we went to the class room and while talking with Laurie met one of Ryder's classmates folks. They too just moved here and he took a professorship in finance at SIU. I asked the mom what she did and she said "I have a PhD in Biochemistry. After I did my post-doc I worked for a company that sells stem cell products, and now I am consulting." Wow! What was amazing to me was that they bought the house that was on our short list-- a saltbox on Upper Brush which we really liked because of the beautiful lot. The house was in need of a lot of renovation but it was a bargain. After spending the better part of the year renovating the house in Oak Park, we wanted nothing to do with a fixer-upper and are so happy with what we got. The also fell under the spell of the Victorian Legend, the 1895 Victorian farm on Springer Ridge. They too made an offer that fell through. The owners of that farm just don't want to sell it. So, it is a small world after all.
We also started cub scouts this week, which will be another great way to meet new people. The scout families range across the socio-economic spectrum which I am very excited about so that we can meet people who live in our community, but are not just university folks. All the the 2-3 graders in Carbondale go to Thomas. Pre-K, K and 1st go to Parrish, 4-5 go to Lewis, then Middle school and then the High School. This arrangements removes inter-school rivalry or inequitable distribution of students and incomes. Nine kids in Ryder's scout troop. The scout master's son and Ryder really hit it off well. Alan Benson, the scout master is the retired chair of the theater department at Kent State. My first impression of him was that he was too old and doddering to be a cub scout leader-- he seemed to barely be able to get around. But when all the parents gathered around him while the scouts ran wild in his back yard, he gave a very lucid, thoughtful and engaging narrative about the scouts, what the plans on for this year, and all the organizational details. He discussed the achievements and belt loops and patches outlining the various activities. He talked of pushing the boys to get through all this and I got the impression he was rather stern, and completely in control, opposite from what I first thought. As it turns out he is 68 married to a much younger woman with whom they have their 8 year old son, his second marriage. His wife is a professor at SIU in the theater dept teaching voice and movement in the McLeod theater--where we saw the production of Into the Woods. She was a stage and screen actress and then joined the faculty. Quite an erudite couple and their son is Ryder's new pal. Ryder really is excited about scouting here because of all the outdoors. I was a bit worried when Alan got to the Religious Embel patch and how you earn this working with your pastor, priest, minister, rabbi or what ever. And that you didn't have to be in an organized religion but you had to have some kind of faith, a belief system-- or some other manifestation of spirituality that you honor and participate in. It was a lovely way out for us, and though he is in charge of the Presbyterian faction of scouting, he is neither evangelical or demanding. So my one great fear, other than too much camouflage, was being proselytized. Lots to look forward to with twice monthly den and once monthly pack meetings, whew. And soccer starts on the 12th also! Ah, no shortage of stuff to do around here, that's for sure.
