Tues, June 11
Our second rest day in Hazard began with another delicious breakfast from Sherry at the Harmony House Bed & Breakfast. Heaping portions of hash-brown casserole with egg, tomato, sausage, and greens filled our plates, and we dug in with as much gusto as on our hardest biking day, proving that once we end our journey, our appetites won’t decline to match the decrease in caloric output. Uhoh
Erin and Devin had the ultimate test today, as they ran their workshop for the first time this morning for a full room of 40 students, teachers, and Spokes. The 5 gallon Whoosh bottle proved to be worth its contentiously large van space allotment, its quick and loud flame wowing the kids at the intro and conclusion of the workshop. Afterward, we chatted with everyone for a couple hours, and ended our first learning festival at the Challenger Learning Center.
With another few hours before dinner, we piled into the car and drove to the county pool. It was a blissful afternoon of reading (Erin and I read aloud to each other), splashing in the pool, and sunny naps.
The afternoon continued on into evening with even more mirth: an invitation to dine at a local church with another group of bikers! We were fed delicious coal-fired pizza and met the mayor of Hazard. And during dinner we got to know the Bike and Build team, who are making the same trek as we are, but are stopping to build and support affordable housing rather than to teach. Super cool! We ended the day with one last super comfortable night at Sherry’s B&B.
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Unfortunately, as you may have noticed by the lack above, we didn’t take many pictures during this fun, busy day. This is actually the only one we did take:
At some point while cleaning up these building pieces Evan brought to entertain the kids after classes, I told him: “this looks somehow poetic; someone should write a poem about it.” I took the photo to accompany the poem just in case someone did, and hey, it ended up being my blog day. So although I am no poet, here is Poetry. (?)
Pieces. It all falls
To pieces in the end. And
The pieces in turn
Fall to the ground, their
Randomness reflecting the
Universe’s state.
Blue, Red, Yellow. These
Primary pigments can be
Combined to make all
Others, they say. Tied
To each other by their blends,
Yet different in
Their lonely forms. Let’s
Take a lesson from this toy,
Spilled by kids across
A school-room carpet,
And from contrasts forge union.
Refrigerator.