A Hole is to Dig

By Todd NelsoncloseAuthor: Todd Nelson Name: Todd Nelson
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About: Todd R. Nelson has been a public and private school English teacher and administrator for 29 years, in schools in Cambridge, San Francisco, Chicago and Maine. Head of School at The School in Rose Valley (Pennsylvania).See Authors Posts (33)
 

been inquiring as to our rates and soon trenches may be fanning out from Adams School to the abutters delivering well water at very competitive rates.  The kids know that the availability of economical water is a boon to the garden project. A few of our agronomists (“The ground is to make a garden.”) have been eyeing that big green open space just through the fence and across the woods behind the school. They’re thinking that a few acres of corn or wheat might be a profitable idea. (That greensward with the little flags seems like substantial acreage that isn’t used by very many people.) Adams School Sweet Corn for sale at the Farmers Market! Sourdough baguettes from our boulangerie! And that southern slope that we go sledding on during the winter (“Snow is to roll in.”) is just the right exposure for a vineyard. Soil samples have been sent to the agriculture extension in Orono. We have friends from abroad who could advise us on the inaugural Madiran vintage. “Mis en bouteilles à L’école Adams” has a nice ring to it. There are other schoolhouse labels, but they lack authenticity.

Once you have a deep hole in the ground that holds water, it begs further activity (“A hole is to sit in”). Like bridge building. Sure enough, a simple one-lane span appeared at Thursday recess and commerce is flowing. Access to more territory creates subdivisions, and down in the lowlands, by the birch trees and red pine stumps, there’s a mini-boom going. It’s a new Levittown, a bedroom community to Adamsville. Anyone with a rake and some sticks and stones (“Little stones are for little children to gather up and put in little piles.”) can fashion a little semi-detached bungalow, some with a water view—of the well water, that is. Clearly, our realtors know how to spin location in their ads! (“A mortgage is to  buy a house.”)

The usual municipal and commercial positions have followed—with the addition of some very upscale chefs and designers—and the time-honored currency of pine cones has been restored. The bankers are working out the details of an initial public offering, or at least some municipal bonds to get the next phase underway…once they sort out this Greek debt mess. This morning I see the beginning of massive earthmoving on a project that seems worthy of the Tennessee Valley Authority. My third-grade broker says she is “all in” when they float a bond to pay for it. Life imitates art. Want my advice? Get in on the underground level.

Todd R. Nelson is newly appointed head of school at The School in Rose Valley, Pennsylvania.

*”Schoolsville”: http://teachers.net/gazette/wordpress/todd-nelson/schoolsville/

*“Harbor Tunnel”: http://www.adamsschool.com/newslettersept30.html