There are still fire flies

As I walked out behind the barn tonight just as true dark was settling over the pastures, I could see in the margins of the woods those magical pinpoints of intermittent light, the last of the fire flies. In the palmettos I could hear the scuffling of the many small nocturnal animals who make their living in the forest litter: mice, armadillos, palm rats, deer, opposums, raccoons, night jars, bats and owls. In the early morning I see their tracks in the soft damp sand. Sometimes I find owl pellets full of tiny rabbit bones, and always there are the holes made by armadillo snouts, and soft wing feathers left by the barred owls.
Thursday! And I had no volunteering agenda with kids, something I have done all year. I am not sure just what I shall be doing next year in the volunteer realm, but I cannot imagine it will not include kids.
Tomorrow morning I am meeting four of the middle school kids I worked with in math at the Boys and Girls Club. We'll get together at the Pizza Hut parking lot, pile into my tiny car, and go to take a tour of the local college. I dare not ask, but I believe that some of these kids may be the children of illegal immigrants, and I know that with the defeat of the Dream Act, these kids can not attend our state colleges and universities. So, we are going to St. Leo University, near by, where illegals are welcome if they can pay. Also, it looks like a real collegiate place, furniture for the mind so these kids can dream.
After the tour we'll all go to Pancho's Villa, the local Mexican restaurant we all love. My treat.
It was hard getting these kids to let me know if they were coming, make the arrangements, and speak in my halting Spanish (on the phone!) to parents who had no idea that I wasn't the dreaded "authority" speaking. Finally, I got the director of the Boys and Girls Club to make sure that all communications were Go.
So, tomorrow, I shall be outside the Pizza Hut, hoping to welcome this motley crew for the promised field trip. I wonder if the boys will be neatly dressed with slicked back hair? Will Javelin, the only girl in the group, be decked out like she was going to church? I'll take my camera. Will they be there?
It is a leap of faith to think that these kids have actually been faithful attendees in my algebra class since December, and now will spend a few hours celebrating with someone old enough to be their grandmother! Even if none of the kids show up tomorrow, I think it has been worth it. I want those kids to have the education that makes it possible to examine their lives and find joy in what they can do. Tomorrow will be a small step.