Tag Archives: education

The Mom in the Hallway

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Writer Wendy’s weekly installment

Walking briskly down the beige hallway of the conference center, I passed a half dozen people in suits on their cell phones. We were all there to lobby—excuse me, educate—legislators regarding rural health needs across the nation: give us more money, restrict the urban usurpation of that money under empty promises of making doctors do a “hardship” postings in Appalachia in return for debt release. All that.

People were cutting deals, cutting croissants, pouring coffee, planning strategies. The place was buzzing. The only reason I noticed her was her laugh.

“Yep, that IS a great lunch,” she said. “You got that from me, peanut butter and banana.”

I slowed, struck by the contrast between her—cheery voice, red curly hair flying away from her head in the dry air of the conference center—and the tall guy in the grey suit next to her, pacing as he said, “Tell them that ROI is insufficient.”

The plump woman in the brown skirt and blazer spoke again. “Well, move back from the camera so I can see it….. Oh, that is cute. Nana did that? Yeah, we can do it like that, too. Did she give you the bow?”

The child’s voice was indistinguishable from the Tannoy suddenly announcing that the meeting would start in two minutes.

Suited Mommy said, “Ok, you got your book for reading time? Excellent choice. What’s that make, 500 times? Ok, sweetie, love you, have a great day today….. Yes, I will, too. And I’ll be thinking of you.”

She pushed a button, adjusted her purse and folder, and moved toward the meeting on short legs in high heels, brown pencil skirt restricting her stride. But she looked like she had the world together.

Say what you will about tech, about the world of work, about silly conferences full of pompous people pretending to change the world. There was a whole world happening in the hallway.

And sometimes, just sometimes, cynical people like me need to be reminded what’s worth fighting for. That bow I never saw was on my mind all day as I explained to legislator after legislator that no, we don’t have an OBGYN residency program in SWVA and no, we don’t benefit from the fact that they currently fund a bunch of those in “Rural Tracks” throughout the state.

I hope that kid grows up to know her mama helped change her world.

Come back next Friday for more from Wendy Welch

When You Feel Sad

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Jack gets over the line again in time – –

Yes – Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a real thing! A friend mentioned it in an email a few days ago, and it got me to thinking – –

I spent most of my life living in central Scotland, and in mid-winter, there, the days are short. I mean that even on sunny days the light starts around 10 am and stops around 3 pm. (Harlan isn’t the only place this happens.) If I had lived in the far north, maybe Orkney or Shetland, there wouldn’t have been any light at all! I’ve heard tales of folk up there holding golf tournaments by head lamps at noon – –

But folk were used to it and mostly just adapted – unless they were incomers from further south. Wendy arrived in Scotland from Newfoundland, which is the tiniest bit higher up toward the North pole, so her winters actually got longer!

In days of yore, by which I mean pre-Christian times, the early inhabitants were sun worshipers and held ceremonies around the winter solstice to encourage the sun to return and for the days to lengthen again. Many of these fire festivals survive to the present day and usually involve a procession with a ‘clavie’ – a large iron cage filled with burning wood with all the people either taking a burning ember to their house or adding more wood to the cage.

In Shetland they have ‘Up Helly A,’ when a replica Viking longship is hauled through the town to the harbor and then set on fire. I think this may also be why New Year celebrations are more significant than Christmas in Scotland? No one really knows when Christ was born, so the existing sun/Son worship time seemed appropriate.

I don’t remember ever having suffered from SAD when I was living in Scotland, and I still don’t really here in Southern Virginia, but I do notice the change of light more. I wonder if that is because, being much further south, the summers are longer and warmer, so the contrast is more stark.

There’s a whole other argument about the need for changing the clocks – springing forward and falling back — but that’s the subject for another post – –

Come back next Wednesday for more from Jack