Mother Earth; Mothers on Earth

" guess that makes me a proud bitch..." Teresa Kaepernick, Colin's mom


Thomas says I need to start a blog called: "Ellie is in fact not away." I mean, it is starting to be an odd travel log. (such is the power of a Trump presidency.)

But a girl has to record what is happening. When the aliens come and look through the rubble, maybe they will find my little virtual fist sticking out in the black power salute. So may I say to any aliens with WTF signs over their heads right now: "Greetings!!" and-no, I cannot explain that guy's hair, or the people who got poor people to vote for them; then wrote a bill that endangered their lives. Nor have I ever understood people who call themselves followers of a pacifist Jew, but who hate pacifists and  Jews.

But if the aliens find peanut butter: they should give it a try. It's really one of our best things.

Oh you beautiful women: well, I wish I could stay; 
cause the night would be fun throwing caution away....

We saw this show on mountain climbing that has this achingly beautiful song as its soundtrack; I can't stop listening. But here is the weird part: one can't buy it. Believe me, my tech team has tried everything, and you can only listen to it on youtube.
Alas, this makes me love it even more....I can observe, but I cannot possess.
(There is a lesson in there somewhere, if I were in the mood.)

Anyway, I am inserting it here to make this entry sound deeper.

...and that bottle's enticing, but I've been there before, 
half way to the bottle and begging for more- 
on my knees quick to pray, then right back up again
cause these are justified sins
they're all justified sins..

On the mountain climbing show we heard the story of how the famed climber Uli Steck died this past April on a simple warm up run on Everest.  Steck was one of the very best climbers ever. He was known for his speed which, according to Messner, was extraordinary. So he got it into his head to do the hardest thing one can do, i.e. climb the the Everest Lhotse traverse. This means climbing Mount Everest, and then, instead of taking a selfie and coming down, it means you keep hiking. You hike a traverse and then climb Lhotse. It's insane, and I don't even know what Lhotse is.

Uli and his Italian partner had tried to do it in 2013, but things went sour. They were acclimatizing (they don't use oxygen or sherpas) and on a training day, they ran into some Sherpas who were laying lines for high paying clients- who not to be too bitchy about it- pay a lot to be hand held to the top...(throwing used oxygen canisters along the way). I don't know what happened; but apparently the sherpas were confused by the Swiss and Italian guys' presence, and the Swiss/Italian team was confused by the sherpas presence, and the Italian called the sherpas a name that was so bad: so very bad, that the sherpas can never ever say it. Of course it is said in every Italian traffic jam, but not in Nepal.
When Uli and his partner came down, a mob of sherpas came to their tent with rocks, and a genuine plan to kill them.

Luckily, a woman friend came to their rescue. Basically she blocked the entrance to the tent with her body, and told the sherpas they would have to kill her, the hot climbing chick, too. Bad ass. But the deal was the climbers had to get the hell out of town, and so no Lhotse face. The next year, there was a huge avalanche that killed many sherpas; and the season was cancelled. Then in 2015 the earthquake hit Nepal and that season was cancelled too. So in the Spring of 2017, Uli goes back, fitter than ever, ready to to do this incredible, super human thing. But on a a simple acclimatizing day, he just doesn't come back. Somehow, the greatest living climber, with endless experience on this mountain, slips on the easiest day. The mountain swallows him up, never to be seen again.

The Sherpas think Everest is a Goddess, and are always worried about pissing her off. Well it seems she just might be. Maybe it's the lunacy of traffic jams of people trying to reach heaven while elbowing each other in the face. Maybe she is mad the sherpas don't have insurance or proper training; just courage and poverty. Maybe she is pissed because we don't take very good care of each other, or her.
But reasonable minds might agree Mother Earth and her favorite Mountain Goddess seem irritated.

An average day on Everest....

I'm reading Hillary's book and it is a salve to my worried heart that she is not going quietly into the night. She is calling it exactly as she sees it: hell yes it was part sexism; hell yes Comey put the final nail in her coffin; hell yes the Russian are here and coming for more. The shit is broken, so tell the truth. Also, I love how she still has the inclination to help the class idiot by giving him the answer. She tweeted what to do asap in Puerto Rico....because as she said: "I don't even think he knows Puerto Ricans are Americans".

Grim news from the Academy today: an Exeter student has gone missing. They wanted us to know in case our kids told us. I asked F, and he filled me in: a kid was found, passed out from dehydration in the woods; and hikers called an ambulance. For some reason he checked into the hospital under a false name, but then high tailed it out of there at midnight. They don't know where he is now.

His poor mother (she is apparently faculty at PEA); I can't stop thinking of her.

Anyway I'm going to tiptoe around mother earth this afternoon, not making too much noise, or using any gas. I want to give her the day off from my problems-because so many of her kids seem to be getting on her nerves.

Though I tried to listen to what was right and what was wrong
Some voice deep inside me told me nothing was wrong
Who I'll become- the places I've been 
These are justified sins
There all justified sins 

Would my mother forgive me if she'd seen things I'd done? 






Chauncy Crandall's song "Vice"  from the soundtrack to the Real Rock- series on Mountain Climbing. 

Gucci Slides and Air Freshener

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OK ...all three kids are present and accounted for at PEA- all three have (at least when I left them), clean sheets and floors cleared of debris. Got a delicious 45 minutes with F the first night before I made the rounds of the rooms. Charlie came bounding down to greet me in Gucci slides with socks: a look he is hoping will catch on in New England. To say he is ahead of the curve on this one, is not in any way braggy. He was a little vague as to the whereabouts of his laundry bag, and to the purposes of a comforter cover. Sadly for fun lovers everywhere, he had to take down his 43 strands of Christmas lights because someone said they were a fire hazard and his house is made of wood.

They are now hung in the middle of the room in what he and I are calling an artistic expression of the suppression of expression everywhere.

His sister's room looked like a hospital suite, but with throw pillows and a rather horrible air freshener that she won't part with. F and I tried to explain that this was likely a toxic addition, but Hot Chocolate (name on her door when she moved in) was having none of it. She said her advisor gave her flowers the day before with a note that said: " flowers to brighten your rainy day"; something that has never happened at Wentworh Hall in 236 years.

Honestly, I think birds follow her around that place like Snow White. F has taken on the role of warning her about potential evil apples; he loves the place God knows, but there are trap doors in this kingdom and you have to be on alert. She just smiles at him in pity: Poor Frederick; so negative.
His friend Will says he is starting to get gray hairs.

Both Brigham kids are speaking a lot of French over there, which is just so cool. All three seem tired, occasionally stressed, occasionally inspired, and content.

My driver to and from the airport is this 60 something very overweight woman who is an RN. We talked about the relationship between the town and the school. 'The Academy', as people call it, has tried to quietly go about the business of educating youth "from all corners" while politely ignoring the educational needs of most of the kids on its doorstep. To be sure, the school accepts and delights in locals coming...plenty of kids are "day students". But most of the kids in the town of Exeter don't go to PEA; and the difference in their high school vs ours, is so extreme, one can't help but wonder if it ever gets awkward. Most of the kids probably enter Exeter with about the same education-sure there are South Koreans in calculus in 9th grade, and maybe even Town School kids know more Spanish or are better writers, but by in large, 13 year olds that want to attend high school are in the same ballpark. But then this warp thing happens - and the difference becomes exponential. One side gets doused with an intense, personalized, multicultural education, with science labs and sports facilities like that of a small college; and the kids at Exeter High get something less.
So I wanted to know how the locals felt about that. Mary said some were jealous, and a few thought it was inspiring. All of them wanted the Academy kids to keep waving when they crossed the street. (The kids always wave at cars that stop for them at crosswalks...it is handed down from older kids to younger- a tiny gesture, but it does a lot to keep relations warm.)

And of course the town would be much poorer without the business created by the school- all those Texans and Nigerians coming to stay and buy trinkets. I think they know this. But the humming sound  that comes from those mysterious buildings next door must occasionally  grate. It seems like it is the same dividing line that is in our country now- it's not about wealth (only) because so many kids who go to PEA are not rich. But they are talented, and they are inspired, and they have parents who dreamt big things. That's why they are lucky- they had someone who loved them enough to send them.

I have a few more stories, Ill add later. Wanted to get the photos up. xx

last selfie

in the hospital suite of hanna's room

yucking it up on Il Duce's balcony

What joy this shot would have brought my father.....

Update coming soon

For now, a fuzzy photograph as proof of life....

Three Yokels from California walk into a prep school......

(for the purposes of this entry, I define a 'yokel' as anyone who is not from South Korea, and does not play the violin.)


So the circus has come to town and three cousins have somulatepisly (combination somehow and simultaneously: a typo but now trademarked) been tucked into their dorm rooms at PEA. H is by far the most joyful: she loves every single thing- her small room with its white linoleum floor and its view of some pretty tress that will soon lose their leaves; she marvels at the sound of the old train in the distance; she has made beautiful, kind, adorable friends already; and she did homework on and off for many hours her first night, a Friday no less. She is my vote for most likely to be student body president and/or head of the board of trustees. She is into it I tell you.

M told me a great story about one of her very first classes.

The teacher wanted each to tell them about themselves and Hanna talked about her recent stint in Geneva. Apparently she tossed out the sentence "but Geneva is really just like any city" . Now a middle child from a large family might not assume anyone is actually listening, so what the hell- go with modesty. But this is the Harkness and there are some exotic birds around that table- birds with brains. So out it comes: "I totally disagree: Geneva has the GDP of most African nations, it has a potable lake, and its citizens represent 4,309 countries. (I'm paraphrasing) . To which H replied- how do you know all this? "Because I lived in Geneva for 15 years." Then as she was leaving, he approached her and asked if she spoke French? "Oui". And off they went to the next class speaking French after picking up another French speaker along the way.

C is in a house with very few kids: a hockey player roommate and some PG football players to name a few.

F somehow got the only kids room on campus I think with a balcony- with French doors.  We are calling him Il Duce.

Charlie is also speaking a lot of French there- and not only in his French class. There was some kid who approached him asking if he could please only speak French together because "he really wants to live in France someday and he needs to practice". He also said he is the only blond in his Chemistry Ap class and to my knowledge the only one with a batman mask from Target (see below).

They have said the work load seems like a lot, but so far so good.

My favorite moment was when I took them to Target (M had a meeting with the faculty) and everyone ran around getting what they needed: Fans and toiletries and pens. That is except Charlie, who only bought a bat man mask and some old Spice. Can't be too careful....Oh and later he texted his mother who was in Bed Bath and Beyond, asking her if she would please get "four boxes of Christmas lights", for obvious reasons: at least they were obvious to Charlie and his roommate.

I am flying this Thursday so I wanted to get out the "first impressons' so we can compare them with the "two weeks later impressions". Stay tuned.
XXX

first night 

At the football field

Charlie's house

post target....everyone got what he or she needed. Bat man mask, check; 47 throw pillows, check. 

Post Target: F is telling C  that they have Saturday classes...classes in which he likely can't wear the mask;
witness the incredulity. 

Every girl had a different beverage on her door. Don't know why...

Clearly this was before Charlie heard about Saturday classes. 

Hanna's room decked out

Its a lonely road sometimes...

Weird new phenomenon of parents buying places in town....

Cousins

Big man on campus Will K. 

Chico's balcony