Early To Bed

It’s 20:35 and we’re in bed.  I’m exhausted.  No Crossfit this morning.  I just couldn’t make it.  I’ve been hobbling around like an old man today.  Not Crossfit’s fault.  Mine.  I didn’t do my yoga this morning or any mobility wod (Crossfitters know what that is.)  I’ll go  back in the morning.  My Blackberry will blow Reveille at 05:00 and I get up and go at it again.  I’m speaking to another one of the classes at “Eastside” Elementary tomorrow.  I got the sweetest note from the class inviting me.  I spoke to another class last week, about what it’s like to be a writer and a little “age appropriate” talk about my being in the Iraq war.  These kids are ripe for the picking for recruiters.  And the little girls… well, some of them already look like their ready for the corner of Santa Monica and LaBrea and the oldest ones are 12!  It breaks my heart.  I don’t know how long I’ll be able to be at the school.  The New York run will require my doing a LOT of flying back and forth in the months before we open.  Right now I treasure every day I have with them and hope that I’m able to make a positive impact on their lives.  I know they have on mine.  That’s not to say I don’t want to strangle some of them some of the time.  There are two girl students of mine in particular who seem to hate my guts for trying to help them read better.  I bite my tongue and smile and try to appeal to their best thinking.  “There are few things you can do to better your chances in life than becoming a good reader.” I tell them.  “There’s certainly no shame in doing hard physical labor for a living but if that’s what you want to do, I want it to be your choice– not your only option.”  They stare blankly at me and say, “Can we play with the Lego?”