hour wait

i've spent the last hour on the playground and in the cafeteria at my kid's school, waiting for a 10:00 meeting with the director of the green schoolyard alliance. there is a lot going on around here. the food pantry volunteers laid out pasta, potatoes, pears, garbanzo beans and sushi wraps on a long cafeteria table and families lined up to fill their bags and boxes(i scored some nice pears and brown rice). this happens every tuesday. kids played holiday songs on trumpets in a circle on the stage. fourth and fifth graders did some kind of project decorating t-shirts with the inclusion teacher. first graders ran excitedly across the playground with their lunch bags, on their way to see the sf symphony. a crew of gardeners whacked weeds and shrubs. "hi jamie" random kids called as they walked by. a car drove around the corner too fast blasting heavy duty hip hop. pre-school kids are riding tricycles around on the little playground and whooping, one crying. i spot my son's best friend loitering as he walks across the playground in the sun, doing a little dance on the four-square court before he spots me and calls out "can miles come over to play at my house?" now the clarinet players are rushing to the cafeteria with their instruments. a seagull flies overhead. the playworks coach helps a kid in a wheelchair hand over hand to shoot a basketball into the net. parents lead other parents on school tours, anxious questions rising into the air.

we are meeting to talk about making green changes at starr king school, and that is exciting. but this has been a sweet wait, reassuring me that even on the huge expanse of asphalt there is plenty of life here already.