Dear Boundless Families:
If you can’t go to Miami beach, then bring Miami beach to you. Such has been the case with this insanely warm weather the past week, finally turned icy cold this morning.
The heat and blue skies have had a giddy effect on everyone. Bare feet and tank tops in November seem surreal and like manna from the heavens. Like a hibernating bear who realizes she has been lured out of her lair too soon – oops – we are all re-hunkering down for the winter that, sadly, returned this morning.
I popped by for a visit last night and beheld a group of chilled out, board-game-playing, hobbie diehards just doing their thing after a 90 minute fitness workout.
Ari proudly displays the fleece hoodie he is sewing. It’s like watching an aggressively inclined primate getting in touch with his nurturing and artistic side. It brings a smile to my outward face, and a sense of awe – which I conceal – on the inside.
He then cleans my clock – again – at crokinole.
Kyle the English teacher chucked convention out the window and lured the kids on a hike in the upper fields at 6:00 am to view the sunrise. They were to write poetry.
When I first heard this notion, I thought it would be trying to herd brittle bees in the blackness of night. How wrong I was. Anything that shakes things up gets your kids going. They are so open. So malleable. They are learning.
Daisy and Cole were in the kitchen, with the latter tending the music player and Daisy getting down to the business of dinner prep. They seemed to have an understanding between them, as if they grew up hovering over the same hearth in 1890.
Inesh was moving quickly doing something – that girl is always on the move, but never fails to open the door for this old man. Whenever ornery old people bemoan the manners of young people, all I need to do is offer up Inesh’s kindness as evidence that chivalry is not dead.
Hope nearly bumps into me in the hallway – a Covid scare of epic proportions – just kidding. We both giggle at the faux pas. The virus is taken so seriously in Boundlessland – it seems the rules have been nailed to our very souls. Sometimes I wince at the orthodoxy.
Yet I know and feel the encroaching despair outside our borders. There are times Boundless feels more like a fortress than a bubble. How privileged we are all to take part in this safe enclave. But I also wonder how long it can last?
Viktor escorts me out of the building, imparting his usual tidbits of wisdom. Noah signals an acknowledgement that I exist with a wink of his steady eye and even steadier disposition.
I drove away feeling that your kids are special.
In nary a week, I predict your kids will be smelling the barn to the session’s conclusion and picking up their pace. Being here for 63 days is no small feat. You will be so proud of them and their rosy cheeks in just 17 days.
Until next time,
Steven
