Tired, anxious, and excited

I am in a college dorm room at Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont. I had forgotten how spartan a dorm room can be. I asked if there was a place where I could get water or a diet coke and was directed to the basement where there is a water fountain, but no cups. I got to make my own bed and collect my towels. I wonder if there will be a towel check on the last day. It will be an interesting week.

Why am I here? I am the last person signed up for a week long conference on sustainability, Schools and Communities Learn for a Sustainable Future. I am here because our gifted curriculum writer Nancy Skerritt could not make it so she gave my name to the person coordinating the Washington State team. I think at the last minute they wanted to round out the team so they gave me the chance. The others have bona fide environmental credentials and work at or have worked at OSPI, the college level, and the coordinator is the executive director of E3 Washington.

Normally I would have said no way, but when I saw that Peter Senge is a big part of the week it made my decision more difficult. After a conference call with the other participants, I felt like I might be able to contribute a little and with Senge, and our focus on embedding sustainability into our Classroom 10 units here I am.

It's about 10:30 ET and I started at 5:00 am our time. The trip was not uneventful. I had the opportunity to spend three hours in the plane sitting on the tarmac at Dulles due to weather and congested skies. Then, when we finally got into the air we had about five minutes of turbulence that felt like a modern roller coaster ride. I'll check in later this week.