Showing posts with label Orpheus Park. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Orpheus Park. Show all posts

Friday, February 13, 2009

A Poem by Central mom Celia

From Orpheus Park



Once upon a time, not too long ago
At Orpheus park where us young moms would go
We’d stand ‘round lamenting about the day’s heat
Saying,“When these trees grow up tall, this place will be neat!”

And those lame sticks grew into some lovely shade trees
And provided such coolness and swayed the breeze
Then the City came in with it’s big buzzing saws
Without any consult, without any pause

And cut ten of our trees without our consent
Though the neighboring people knew just what it meant
Claiming no prior knowledge of the felling of trees
“Well, gee what a great view… 180 degrees!”

And people are saying things about our tree sitter
Oh, “He’s a big liar.” or “He is a quitter.”
He’s a wonderful man who got up in our tree
And took on our issue in our absentee

And whether he’s crazy, a liar or not
The point’s that OUR people don’t like us a lot
My faith in my city has really been marred
For them to treat us with such ill disregard

And speaking of Andrew he taught my young girls
That beliefs stand for something in this unfair world
About peaceful protest and keeping up hopes
And even a little ‘bout climbing up ropes

He welcomed the kids in his sweet little fort
To and from school they’d hold Tipu tree court
Reading books, eating fruit and discussing “green” things
Wonderful, happy Orpheus kings and queens

Please, he’s not the bad guy, stop pointing those fingers
When he is forgotten the stink will still linger
As the problem lies here in our own paradise
With leaders that long ago fixed their own price

And perhaps maybe this time it wasn’t your cause
About which the council made up some new laws
And with the exception of the new gal, Ms. Barth
They relished in playing their big bully parts


After laughing at us and our tree loving ways
When your time comes, not a finger they’ll raise
You’ll see that these people who represent us
Will, in their own interest, throw you under a bus.

It’s sad that their using this to make us take sides
When we’re all Encinitans and have great city pride
A sad lesson for kids about having no voice
But trust me, they’re learning ‘bout candidate choice

Well, the big storm came in and the rain poured from heaven
And they showed up on Monday and took number eleven
And now, to be honest, my heart hurts inside
Some sad disappointment replacing some pride

And the Orpheus Park sweat that dripped down our backs
Is back once again due to our city hacks
The condos are happy that they have their view
And though kids lost their shade, at least they had Jru.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

The Milagro Tipu Tree War


Wow. I cut down a tipu in my yard a while ago because I was worried it was going to break into my septic tank. Good thing I kept it on the down low. Central kids are getting a first hand and hands on lesson in civil disobedience from Andrew. I think it's awesome that teachers took classes up there. That is called a 'teachable moment' in edu-speak. Unfortunately, Lean King wasn't too happy with the use of time, saying "that students can learn about community activism but can't join a rally on school time." Hopefully he wasn't too hard on the PEC administration and staff. This ongoing episode is reminding me of The Milagro Beanfield War

Saturday, January 31, 2009

Character Counts

I got to attend the Character Counts award assembly on Friday. This month's theme was 'fairness' and one of my boys was recognized for being fair!  Character education is required curriculum in California and different organizations offer different materials for it, the Seven Traits of Character being one of them. With all the weight put on kids, teachers, schools and districts to get those test scores up and meet NCLB, character education often gets left in the dust. Just ask Bernie Madoff's teacher. I was especially impressed with Principal Adriana Chavarin's presence and clear enjoyment of getting to reward PEC kids for their effort. To close the assembly, teachers joined in with students to do the character counts song. PEC then made the local news later in the day when students visited a tree sitter protecting a Tipu tree set for removal in Orpheus Park, a park much of the school community walks through and that classes visit regularly. The comments from the article in the UT are pretty funny. I was stoked my oldest son came home and said they got to sing some Dylan songs with Jru today. Time to bust out Dr. Seuss' Lorax for a reread.