We had quite a feast for dinner last night. Our son and daughter-in-law have a partner in the cattle-raising portion of their farm. As a result they also partner in the hay business. A customer of the hay business, who is also a commercial fisher, traded some fresh crab and our son’s portion of the deal was two large bags of crab, more than enough for a big feast. The day after they received the crab was the first day of school and we got in on the celebration. We steamed crab, boiled corn, and melted butter. There was a fresh loaf of bread from the bakery and a huge salad from the garden supplemented with carrots from a neighbor and avocados from the store. Susan baked an apple pie. There was no shortage of food, and we sat at the table cracking crabs after dinner and produced a bowl of crab meat sufficient for crab cakes for the family today.

We also got to hear stories of the first day of school for the two oldest grandchildren. Kindergarten has not yet started for the five-year-old, but she will meet her teacher today and begin classes next week. We got to hear the name of the teacher and a bit about how the first day went for our other granddaughter. Our grandson had quite a story to tell. One of his friends ended up in a fight on the first day of school. We don’t have the details and know only one side of the issue, but it was the first day of middle school for our grandson and for his friend. His friend has been the victim of some bullying earlier in his life and he witnessed what he perceived to be bullying at the middle school. When he told the bully to stop, the bully challenged him to fight. This drew the attention of other middle schoolers who began to yell “fight! fight!” Fortunately our grandson tried to stop the fight, but a few punches were thrown. No one was seriously hurt. It was the intervention of the school that got my attention. I'm sure that school rules might have allowed the suspension of the combatants in the fight, but neither was suspended. Instead, they both will have to meet in the school library for the next few days and spend a set amount of time playing chess.

The idea of a spunky little kid who has been the victim of the taunts of several bullies and a larger kid who seemed eager to throw a few punches spending some quality time bonding over games of chess intrigues me. From the time when I was a student, I’ve never understood suspension as a punishment. The school takes the kid who is least likely to succeed in school and “punishes” that kid by saying, “stay home from school.” Then we wonder why dropout rates are so high.

I was entertained by our grandson’s report and was impressed with the teachers and administrators of his school. This could turn out to be a very good year of learning for everyone. And, from my perspective, these kids deserve a good year of learning after two years of Covid. Vaccines are available for children. The mask mandate has been lifted. Teachers who have been forced to pour every bit of energy and creativity into trying to teach with “on again, off again” schedules, online and in person classes, calls for banning books, and more than a small amount of criticism and attack against public education in general finally are able to focus their energies on teaching and solving everyday problems in the lives of their students.

“You want to get in fights? Keep that up and you’ll end up in the library! Do that again and you’ll end up on the chess team. Who do you think they’ll be calling g a nerd then?” OK, a real teacher wouldn’t add that last comment. I, however, couldn’t resist it.

Libraries continue to offer creative solutions for schools and for communities. I know I’m biased because our son is a librarian, but I am impressed with all of the community services provided by libraries that go way beyond having books that can be checked out and read at home. Library buildings are serving as emergency shelters in extreme weather events. Area libraries are warming shelters during winter storms and cooling shelters during heat waves. They provide computer access to the public, including those who have no homes. They offer classes and support in a wide variety of different life skills. They provide meeting space for community organizations. The new library building being constructed by the community where our son lives will be the largest electric vehicle charging station in the country when it is completed. It will serve as a transportation hub, a senior citizen’s center, and a community gathering space.

And libraries continue to be great places for people like us to check out books. We’ve become skilled in searching for books through the online resources of the library and reserving them for checkout at our convenience. Most weeks find us in the library, which, in addition to all of its other services, provided us with the at home Covid-19 test kits that we needed to check our status when we suffered a cold or experienced exposure.

Our little Birch Bay library, part of a larger library district, even has beach umbrellas and toys for checkout and a public beach access right in the middle of the bay. That’s not bad for a community that isn’t even organized as a city.

I haven’t been inside of the Middle School yet, but I’ve been to the elementary school library for an evening of learning games with our granddaughter. I know that school libraries are very different from the way they were when I was growing up. And I’m eager for the opportunity to visit the library at the Middle School when we get the opportunity.

Yesterday was only the first day of school. I’m sure there will be lots more stories to hear, even on days when we don’t have a family feast.