COA Déjà Vu

I was always a kid that really liked going back to school after a vacation (dork), but my two girls weren’t so excited by the idea or process yesterday.  After a long day of transport from Atlanta to Bar Harbor through Portland and a late night to bed, Tuesday morning at 7:30am was something of a train wreck.

Nothing hits ‘reset’ quite as forcefully as a meteor shower expedition.

Fortunately, the 2012 Quadrantid Meteor Shower made a spectacular showing for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, with 100 shooting stars/meteors per second flashing through the sky.

So, at 2:45am this morning I ran out and did a check of the weather.  Brutal cold, 5 degrees F with a pretty blustery wind, but not a cloud in the sky.  Stage 2: let the car  heat up while piling the hatch full of sleeping pads, sleeping mats, blankets, etc. Stage 3: transporting semi-awake children and mildly-concerned wife (eg, ‘has he lost his mind?’) into the car. Stage 4: drive down the street to Kebo golf course and bring sleeping materials to the middle of the 7th fairway. Stage 5: carry Molly out to the 7th fairway (most difficult task of night) while Karen and Maggie traipse out there. Stage 6: meteors galore.

So, we lasted five minutes max, but we all saw meteors.  And, although Molly and I had a hard time going to sleep after we got back in bed by 3:20, we all woke up sprinkled with the dust of a remarkable adventure.  And the girls headed off to school maybe a bit zonked but with a great story and with some kind of drive to learn about the night sky.

Take aways: a) process can be as enjoyable as the outcome (Deep Purple, “It’s not the kill, it’s the thrill of the chase); b) adventurous learning is as powerful as we say it is.