Upon finding my niche

A great Saturday morning to everyone out there and greetings/best wishes from a place far away called Montrose, Colorado.  Last night when I went to bed I determined to NOT set an alarm for once and prayed to not wake up at my usual hour of 4:30.  I was tired and thankful that when I did open my eyes, the clock said "5:30".  Ah, to sleep in!  The days of doing the proverbial "try to burn the candle at both ends" thing really has been catching up with me.  Now, ready for cup of coffee #1 and the chance to visit with you, my friends on this blog site.  

Through the magic of technology....greetings to you from the kitchen table at our house.

     Mike just reminded me that today is the first day of autumn and what a reminder it is to me of the journey I have gone through here in the West since I came here, now nearly four months ago.  So summer has handed off the baton to fall and the world continues to spin whether I live in Reno County, Kansas or Montrose County, Colorado.  And no matter where the little girl who used to be called "Peggy Scott" finds herself, the same God who watched over her back home in Kansas continues to watch over her here along the Rocky Mountains.  So what else could I even ask for any way?

     The students in my 4th grade classroom at Olathe Elementary are studying the ecosystem and learning a myriad of vocabulary terms that relate to it.  Vocabulary is not our "strong suit" and we know it.  Therefore, every chance we get to teach a new word or two we jump on it.  One of the words for their ecosystem unit is niche-the job or role an organism plays in the environment.  For some strange reason, that's been a tough one for them to relate to.  So yesterday, with an occasional tear in my eye, I told them an easy way for them to remember it from now on.

     I told those 17, nine-year olds the story of a very lonely and homesick, newly married and twice retired school teacher from Kansas who had spent the better part of the summer in search of something.  And the something was them.  "Did you guys know that I was looking for you?  Did you know that I almost gave up on finding you?", I told them.  They looked at me wide-eyed and puzzled.  Perhaps they are too young, maybe they haven't had enough of the life experiences that their old teacher has.  But some day they will understand, I'm sure.

     I explained to them that I had found my "niche" when I got the opportunity to come and teach them this year.  I had finally, after an entire summer of searching for my purpose here in Colorado, come to realize that they were the reason.  So when they see that word "niche" on their science test next week, they should just remember me and the fact that I have found my job here.  They actually began to understand a bit more and really with all things considered, so did I.

     It's funny, you know?  Everything that has happened to me (and to you as well) really has been part of a great plan that was set in motion long before we came to the face of this earth.  It was in the destiny of this little kid from the small Kansas town of Haven to suddenly, in the autumn of her 58th year to find herself uprooted and transplanted into an area along the Uncompahgre Range of south western Colorado.  Would I ever have imagined being a teacher in a school like Olathe Elementary or wearing a shirt that said "Olathe Pirates"?  Nah, don't think so.  But yesterday, that's where you would have been able to find me.

    I love Olathe, Colorado perhaps because in a way it reminds me of a combination of the Reno County, Kansas towns of South Hutchinson, Haven, Buhler, Yoder and even a little bit of Nickerson thrown in.  It's a small and rural community that is famous for its delicious "Olathe Sweet Corn".  The people there, its citizenry, are all pretty much common folks.  The rich and the famous don't live there, thank goodness.  There is a strong Hispanic influence as is evidenced by the fact that over 50% of our students are ESL learners and for that I'm grateful.  Finally a chance to speak Spanish each day to little people.  The parents of students at school support the teachers all the way and they do what they can to make sure that their children get to school each day to learn.  I may live in Montrose but my heart, soul, and spirit have begun to align themselves with the a community about 10 miles up the road towards the Grand Mesa.  I am happy there.

     Yesterday all of the kids at the elementary school got to make the big trek of two blocks towards 5th Street to plant themselves along the street to watch the 15 minute homecoming parade pass by.  We spent a part of the day preparing for it by joining our reading buddies in Mrs. Morris' kindergarten class as we assisted in the making of official pompoms to shake and cheer with as the floats passed by.  It was fun to watch the kids working together and to hear Mrs. Morris coaching the kids in using them.  "Now remember, if you want them to throw lots of candy to us off of the float you are going to have to yell really loudly, 'GO, PIRATES, GO, PIRATES'", she told them.  So yell, those little tiny 5-year olds did and the bags of candy that we came back with were the proof that their dear teacher Mary was right.

     Friends, what is your niche?  Have you found it in this life of ours?  Have you changed it from time to time?  Wherever that job or role in life may have played out to be, I pray you are happy in it.  If you are not, then why not take the opportunity to change it if need be?  I spent an entire summer, well nearly, at struggling through what I should be doing here, of what my own niche might be.  It was waiting for me all along but it just needed a little bit more time to play out in order that I could see it.  I almost gave up finding it, seriously I almost gave up.  But just in the right time, God's time, it was mine.  

     If you never have had a friend who flunked "retirement" 2 times in a row....well now you do in me.  I was born to be a teacher in Kansas and it would appear for now at least this year, in Colorado.  I'm happy and at peace with that idea.

     The sun has arisen over the cliffs of the Uncompahgre Range now and the clock is ticking away quickly.  Time to get busy and start this weekend.  I'm thinking of you my dear friends and family all back home in Kansas and parts beyond.  3 weeks from today we will be back there with you all and celebrating my 40th class reunion with the class of 1973, Haven High School.  I have been blessed in this life and I will never forget that.  You are my friends and I want you to know how much I love each of you and count it a blessing each day that God saw fit that we should meet in this life.  Take care everyone and have a wonderful weekend out there.  This is Saturday, the 21st day of September, 2013 and a great day to be alive in.

It was fun to watch my fourth grade students interacting with their kindergarten buddies yesterday.  They really were patient with them as they showed them how to cut along the lines with their scissors and fold into a pompom to use at the parade.

This class of kids made pirate hats to wear as they watched the parade.  Kind of like "cheese heads" gone bad or something.  

Hey they took this "cheering them on" idea very seriously.....

I've seen the outhouse on the back of the float around town somewhere....Dennis Ulrey and Craig Sailsbury,  I thought of you two dear friends for some reason.  :)