The Earthquake
I thought about making you look through all of the pictures of the boy before getting to this, but I think for once you might find my ramblings more interesting than pictures, if only by a little bit. If you are not aware, on Tuesday, August 23 at 1:51, a 5.8 magnitude earthquake struck 88 miles south of Washington D.C. What resulted was the kind of panic and overreaction that we have all come to expect from the land of helpless hippies.
I think that the first two days of school might be my least favorite of the year. Not because it means that I have to go back to work after two months off, but because there is always a general feeling of chaos and weirdness. The Administration always messes with the schedule, so you never know how much time you are going to get, and children get lost and come in late, and you have to give them the syllabus and talk at them about the class...I look forward to the second day of class when we can just get down to business. Monday, the first day of classes didn't go very well, but I had made some adjustments and so Tuesday, which was kind of another "first day" because it was the first time that we had our B-Day classes, was going much better.
Third period had just finished their group activity, and we were discussing the syllabus when I felt a rumbling in the floor. Now this wasn't all that surprising, my class is on the 2nd floor of a story building, so depending on what is going on in the building (such as the drumline practicing) the floor vibrates from time to time. After a few seconds the rumbling didn't subside, and instead started to roll a bit. My students were all sitting at their tables, so they didn't notice it, but I felt like I was surfing on my classroom floor. Now, not to brag about my awesomeness, but when it became obvious to me at this point that we were having an earthquake I figured that if I remained calm the children wouldn't freak out. So I just continued to discuss how grades were figured while trying to stay upright. (I k now what you are thinking, "A good teacher would have told the children to get under the tables so that they would be safe. That was my immediate reaction, but I also know the kind of helpless overreacting people that I have to deal with here on the east coast. If I told them to get under the table all they would have done is scream and run around the room screaming. I figured that if it got to the point that things started to fall off of the wall that I would get them under cover, but until then, I wanted to keep them as clueless as I could.)
Finally after about 30 seconds as the rolling reached its peak, there was an audible rumbling sound that alerted the children that something was not right. About this time we could here students in other classrooms screaming (the exact thing that I was trying to avoid) and one of my students asked "Is that an airplane?" (Looking back, that is a fascinating question. One of these kids first memories is probably 10 years ago when they locked down all the schools during September 11th. Something wasn't right and so their immediate response was to think that it was an airplane.) I responded calmly "Oh, we're just having a little earthquake." At this point 31 students took my same calm attitude and stayed in their seats. Unfortunately 2 stupid children felt that they needed to make a scene and ran out of the room. Now the Darwinistic side of me wanted very badly for them to be squished by some large piece of debris falling in the hallway, but the responsible side of me grabbed them and pushed them (yes, I laid hands on the students) back into the room. (These same children would run into the hallway if they heard gunshots out there too...they are just not smart.)
After about 45 seconds of shaking everything stopped, and I asked, "How many of you just experienced your first earthquake?" Almost every hand shot up. Then I asked, "How many of you have already updated your Facebook or tweeted?" About 5 or 6 students had updated their Facebook or tweeted during the earthquake. Within 10 minutes after the earthquake we had the entire school outside in the hot sun, where we stayed for the next hour and a half. Everyone was trying to call their parents, but it overloaded the cell towers and no one could get a call through. I told all of my students to text instead of call, and to make sure that they texted their mother first. When they got their phones out most of them commented that their mother had already sent them a text. This made me curious, so I got out my phone, and sure enough I had a text from my mother as well. I think I got her text before I got the text from Beki. There is just something about Mom and knowing when her children are in danger I guess.
When 4 o'clock finally came around, and the buses started showing up we were finally able to get the students out of there, and teachers were allowed back into the school to collect our things. The big topic of discussion was whether or not we were going to have school on Wednesday, or if they would have to inspect every building. Well, sure enough Wednesday was an Earthquake Day, and we had no school. The good thing about this is that I got to take the boy to the Library to get some new books, and I have time to update the blog, so Happy Earthquake Day!!
Pictures of the Boy
We have quite a backlog of pictures to post on here today. With school starting I have been really busy with Band Camp, and with making 220 workbooks for my students. (Since I am making up my class as I go along, I am basically writing my own textbook.) I am just going to present these rapid fire as much as possible:
The local fire and police departments had a night out last month, and so Beki took the boy down to meet the firemen. I stayed home and worked on school stuff:
Sitting in a firetruck seat
What child doesn't like a good fireturck?
Owen loves flashlights, and the bigger the better!
The helmet may be a bit big...
They also went to the aircraft museum at the College Park Airport. (The College Park Airport is the oldest Airport in the world, it is where the Wrights came when they worked with the government.)
Being a helpful friend to Scott-Scott
Or maybe just moving in for his turn.
Owen could play with this all day...maybe we should make one.
Three peas in a pod!
Just going out for a little flight around the area...
Switched to a smaller model.
These next three are the kind of pictures that you hang on to until high school graduation where you have them put up on the big screen to embarrass your child:
When you live thousands of mile from family it can take time for packages to arrive for birthdays and things, so Owen was opening presents well into August, which was just fine with him. He LOVES packages!
Grandpa Coins and Grandma Carolee sent him the greatest combination of two of his favorite things, Legos and CarsII!!
Then there was a box from Abuela and Grandpa White!
New favorite shirt!!
We don't buy Owen toys, he earns his money and makes his own purchases. Sometimes, however I help him decide what he really wants. Hotwheels track is a definite hit!
Silly picture with Mommy!!
One morning the boy got hungry while I was in the shower...this is his idea of breakfast. Yes, that is the can opener that he is trying to use. No, he can't use it...yet.
He wanted swimming goggles for his birthday. He wears them a lot. He is strange like that.
Most people inflate the pool before filling it with water and children...guess my wife likes a challenge.
General silliness!
Different Pool, same silliness.
This Nerf Mace was in the discount section at Target. Owen chose it, but I was not about to complain!
Practicing in case he needs to defend the family from invasion!!
This picture is less about showing my wife eating pancakes and more about you seeing the stack of books on the left that I spend three weeks making.
Last thing for today, here is a youtube clip of the boy and I reading an Elephant and Piggie book.
There is a hurricane coming this weekend...I hope we survive. I am sure there will be more stories of disaster to come!
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