WSCL Spring 2009
Our Public Radio Station, WSCL, broadcasts from the campus of Salisbury University. They graciously allow me to record some commentary that can sometimes be heard in the morning when there is a slow news day.
These are my spring offerings.
Roller Skating Lessons
3-25-09
My students go to the roller skating rink once a year as a reward for good behavior. This is a trip that I really enjoy because I have been roller skating since I was 7 years old. I took lessons and went to the roller skating rink in Wilmington that is still there, just under the Elsmere bridge.
Roller skating to me was the closest thing that I had to a sport. Anything that involved music, motion and friends seemed like fun and I had many hours of enjoyment in that rink. I remember spending New Years Eve at the rink, having birthday parties at the rink and long winter afternoons perfecting my circles and my switch from forward to backward skating.
Fast forward to my current life and I still enjoy putting on my skates and going around the rink with my students who are amazed and sometimes startled that this veteran teacher can smile and skate at the same time. They gave me huge smiles and encouragement, thumbs up Ms. A! and then it happened: the big fall. I fell flat on my face.
Something stopped my skate and I went down, hard. I was startled as the rink guard came to collect me and place me on a bench with ice for my knee. I took off my skates reluctantly, all the while realizing that my left knee, my right shoulder and my left wrist were a big OUCH!
My students were amazing: so concerned and caring – Are you OK Ms A? Can I get you anything? Repeatedly. I toughed it out for their sake and taught the rest of the day but could not make it the next day to school. My body was in revolt and I couldn’t get out of bed!
When I came back to school I had to wear a leg immobilizer, a big padded steel rod wrap for my left leg. My spirits were lifted by my students’ kindness. They were subdued, even the ones who specialized in mischief, and their genuine compassion touched my heart.
It is true that I teach English but when people ask me what I teach, I say STUDENTS because that is really the core of the classroom context.
We have them and they have us. It is a temporary, binding relationship that is the basis for all learning. Somewhere in the mix, there must be caring and respect but my roller skating tumble taught me that this is a two-way street. The caring and respect that I had shown my students all came back to nurture me after my big fall.
My healing process has been accelerated because of their compassion toward me and the fact that every day I know that I am in that classroom for a reason that doesn’t necessarily have to do with adjectives and dangling participles. I am there to learn from them and them from me and maybe that’s enough.
Somehow along the way our humanness shows through, there is a strong connection. The best lessons are remembered within the heart.
Pain Spray
3-25-09
My head was hung low and I felt so tired as if I had been put through the ringer of an old fashioned washing tub. My knee was throbbing from standing on it all day in a classroom in front of students, a painful remnant of a roller skating accident that fractured my knee cap. I was worn out and grateful to be going to get my haircut. My favorite stylist John always lifted my spirits.
His shop, Salon Milton, is full of the bustle of everyday small town life. He sells books from local authors, raffle tickets for the next big town event and even wields the scissors and blow dryer with deft skill. John is a phenomenon who is an essential part of my life and a pillar of the community of Milton. His capacity to enrich and enhance his clients is legendary. When I am in his chair, I get good advice on the hottest books, styles, food and gossip. No wonder people walk in and out of the shop all the time just to keep current and to connect.
When I opened the door of the shop on that day John immediately sensed that I was down. He offered me tea, some licorice and a good ear. I told him about my injuries, my recent physical and emotional trauma and he listened to me with skillful understanding. Next thing I know he disappeared into a back room and emerged with a little tiny white spray bottle in his hand. He told me that this is what I needed and there would be no charge. It was a product I could not live without: a bottle of pain spray.
He read me the label: PAIN SPRAY: A miracle in every bottle! Fast temporary relief! Arthritis, knee pain, backache, shoulder pain, stiff joints, fibromyalgia, pinched nerves. Natural menthol herbal formula.
My skeptic emerged but I gratefully accepted the little white bottle. Imagine, a little spray here, a little spray there and the pain would go away. Could this be the answer to my broken heart, or my worn-out spirit? If I could spray this onto my brain would I dull the painful memories or relieve the sleepless nights? If I used the spray on my heart would I get over dashed dreams and hurtful feelings? What if I sprayed my entire body, could I then emerge as a whole, transformed person even if only temporarily? I hoped. John gave me that hope. Hope in a bottle of Pain Spray.
Living at the Beach
3-26-09
Living in a resort town has its ups and downs but you won’t hear me complaining. Toward the summer, the population swells like an inflated balloon and then deflates as the frigid air crosses the Atlantic Ocean, ravaging the streets of Rehoboth. But this place is a gem. Cape Henlopen and the beaches here are precious jewels: such a rich, magnificent and profoundly nurturing environment.
I love it here.
I love it when the tourists come.
I love it when the tourists leave.
I love living near the beach, observing and enjoying nature’s lessons.
This lesson, an awareness of relationship, is how we all need each other to survive, how we need the land and the land needs us. This lesson has been percolating inside me for decades now.
The billboards shout out a beach lifestyle. They say, “Come buy a beach house and you too can have a carefree, relaxed life. Pictures of people doing cartwheels on the beach, grandparents walking hand in hand, children building castles in the sand all shout “Relax, enjoy your family, reconnect with what is important.”
I love to this idea: here you relax and enjoy.
I love visiting my sons who work on the beach in the summer.
I walk the surf in all kinds of weather.
I wait impatiently as the boardwalk undergoes repair so I can again do the 2 mile loop breathing in the salty freshness of the sea.
And I wait patiently till the ocean temperature rises and I can once again ride the big waves and feel like I did when I was twelve.
This awareness of time and value has been taught to me by the land and the carousel of seasons. All things in time. All things are possible.
Businesses here strive to support the year-round community even in tough times. There is a natural increase and decrease in business and there are some very big challenges facing them. Yet somehow, they manage to pay attention to the people who live here. Just look at the large list of charity walks, bikes, balls and events that go on here year round.
This community cares. We may have been drawn here by the allure of the beaches but we are sustained here by our commitment to each other.
I love connection.
I love knowing that I can be a part of something bigger.
I love going to the film festival, the jazz festival and hearing the Cape Henlopen High School Band play at Lewes Community night.
I love the 4th of July parade and the fireworks over the ocean.
Many years ago I visited the Cape region. I was so impressed that I distinctly remember saying that I could live here. Now that I have been here for decades I am certain that my choice was a good one.
