When we last tuned in to Salty Besos...

The Sandburg School Garden was forthcoming, Ella’s very first ballet recital was imminent and the back half of our garden was pure quack grass. 

Today, the Sandburg School Garden is firmly installed, complete with raised cedar beds, rich black soil and hand painted signs.  Read the press we got on the event here: http://madisoncommons.org/?q=node/1282

It turned out to be a great day.  The weather cooperated, we had about 40 people show up and it was a tremendous success in terms of community building.  Two families who live nearby but who have never volunteered with the school before came out to help with the garden, just because they thought a school garden was a great idea.  Every new parent we engage is a success. 

Last week during my regular volunteer time at Jay’s school, his kindergarten class came out to the garden and together we planted radish, zucchini and broccoli seeds.  We talked about the differences in the seeds (what size are they?  Are they all the same color?  What shape are they?) and we talked about what the seeds would need to grow (right answers: water, sunlight, and soil.  Wrong answers: boogers.  I can get them outside, but I can’t make them not be kindergarteners.) 

The day after we installed the school garden, Ella had her very first ballet recital.  I caught it on video, but it was from very far away and we were prohibited from using flash photography, so most of my pictures from her actual performance are pretty bad.  To save some space on my blog, I will help you recreate the photographs I captured from her dance recital.  Do this.  Put both hands over your eyes and then rub them vigorously back and forth.  There.  This is what our pictures look like and now I don’t have to load them online.

I can tell you she danced beautifully and Chris and I are tremendously proud.  I cried through the entire thing, as I watched my little girl up on stage in front of hundreds of people like it wasn’t a thing.  She nailed every step and was graceful and beautiful and lovely and totally rocked her sweat pants while the other girls in her class wore leotards and matching tutus.  She never got stage fright and never faltered and I was so incredibly proud of her.  

When we enrolled her in classes at the YMCA two months ago, we did it almost on a whim.  Classes were inexpensive, we thought she’d enjoy them, it would give Chris a small break, etc.  What I didn’t realize is that Ella had come to think of herself as a real life ballerina.  Over the last few weeks, I’ve seen her quietly practicing her dance moves in the mirror or performing her ballet stretches, but it never really registered to me that she was taking it seriously.  We even missed a few classes, because we were out of town or because- once- Chris even forgot.  But we received a notice a few weeks ago announcing the recital and decided that we should probably go. We hoped she would go up on stage, but I didn’t have expectations beyond that. 

So I was not at all surprised when five minutes before her class was set to take the stage, I heard her erupt from the other side of the auditorium.  I followed the sobs, sprinting over to try to quell the tears.   I knew exactly what happened.  Clearly, she had developed a case of stage fright as the reality of the performance sunk in and she was frightened.  Through her tears, I could make out, “I… I… I…”

I held her tight and stroked her hair.  “It’s ok. sweetie.  It’s ok.  What’s wrong?  Are you scared?  You don’t have to go on stage if you don’t want to.  It’s o.k.”

Her cries continued, “I… I… I… MISSED MY SHOW!”

I was dumbfounded. 

Then it dawned on me that her teacher, Ms. Ari, who has multiple classes, had led a group on stage that included many of the same girls from Ella’s dance class.  Ella had assumed that Ms. Ari had simply decided that on performance day Ella didn’t make the cut.  She was completely crushed. 

Ms. Ari speed walked over to assure her and us that no, Ella was still slated for her performance.  Ella’s cries turned into tiny hiccups and then to a calm smile.  She took Ms. Ari’s hand and went back to the line of dancers.  Then Ms. Ari led the tiny ballerinas on stage and they danced their hearts out. 

Then it was my time to sob.  I was so proud of her.

Here is the lovely Ella with her teacher, Ms. Ari, post performance:

In other updates, our garden is still mostly quack grass.  Eh.  You can only do so much. 

This weekend will see the tilling up of the quack grass, the creation of a trellis and the planting of companion plants (Borage!  Marigolds!  Thyme!) and the planting of broccoli and potatoes.  Check back soon for pictures.