Can you imagine what it feels like to work at a place
where everyone wants to hug you? I can and it's wonderful.
At the end of volunteering for Audubon Naturalist Society’s
Unplug and Play Afterschool Program on Wednesday, the students swarmed me for wanting
more pieces of me. I swear. And all because I had just given them a rock...
or two as the case may be. And then I told
them a story that went like this:
“I got a rock…
That you can choose for your very own but please, when I see
you next, tell me what you did with it.
In my family, rocks are special. Not just because they come from deep beneath
the earth but because when all else fails, it’s something to play with.
Sometimes, when we are walking along a river or creek, my
kids will pick up a rock, skip it and count the rings. But if their rock isn’t flat enough, they
will simply throw it as far as they can and say “Look, Rock Fish!”
If we are walking along a wooded path, sometimes I’ll see
monuments made out rocks that others before me stacked up. In that moment, I will find my own rock and
add it to the pile so everyone else knows I was there too.
Sometimes my kids will paint their rock and add it to my
garden.
One thing they never do is throw it at another person. It would be disrespectful to the rock.
So enjoy this river rock, and the next time I see you,
whether it’s next week or after Spring Break, tell me what you did with it because
I want to know.”
See. Getting hugs is that easy. So on the way home, I crafted this poem which
reflects just how I feel right now…
I am playing the part of a naturalist
And the woods are my proscenium.
If you all be my audience
Then you’ll be my muse too
Because I need you.
