Be Prepared

On Tuesday of Spring Break, I biked the Delta Heritage Trail for the first time. Started the ride in Lexa, Arkansas, located near Helena, not far from the Mississippi River. The plan was to ride to Elaine, AR and back to Lexa for a total riding distance of 41 miles. This was supposed to be another of my many fun and carefree rides. I actually came up with the idea of making this ride the night before, and wanted it to be a great day of riding. How quickly I discovered that I was not prepared at all for this ride.

Unlike the trails I have been riding such as the Greenline and Gulf State Park, this was a gravel trail with lots of rocks and sand. There is a paved section of this trail, but that section is a short one. The trail blew out both my tires, but not until I was 18 miles into the ride. That's when the rear tire started leaking. Somehow, my patch kit wasn’t in my bike pouch. I have no idea where I had placed the kit. I decided to continue the ride to Elaine to see if maybe there was a store there where I could get some help to repair the tire. No such luck.

I had to pump up the rear tire every 2 miles. At the 28-mile mark, had to now pump up the rear tire every mile. Extremely difficult to pedal through gravel, sand, and rocks on deflated tires. At about the 39-mile mark of my ride, the rear tire finally gave out completely and the front tire started leaking air. Had to walk the bike the last mile and a half. There was no more riding and my ride became a walk.

I have a hybrid bike. It is a cross between a road and touring bike with thinner, smoother tires. The tires are not meant for rough trails. I needed better trail tires to make this ride. It is also a lighter bike than a trail bike. So, the bike gets beat up riding a rocky trail as does the rider.

Because this went from a 3-hour bike ride to an over 5-hour bike ride, I didn’t have enough water to make it to the end. The temperature was 85 degrees, which required even more water. I rode 41 miles, saw no one on the trail, and there was nowhere to stop for help. My one choice was to suck it up and ride. That's what I did.

What did I learn from this ride? Be prepared! I need to be better prepared especially in dealing with the unknown.

I should have learned from our planning for the reopening of the school during this pandemic. We were so ready and so prepared for the unknown that nothing was going to go wrong. Nothing! And, nothing did go wrong. Everything went better than expected. 

I am so proud of everyone who helped plan for the 2020-21 school year. They were all a Godsend with positive, problem-solving attitudes. No one sat back and waited for others to plan. Everyone stepping up and joined-in to make this school year happen. Because of these forward thinking and acting folks, we were ready and prepared. This has turned out to be a fantastic school year. When you think of all that has taken place, I think this has been the best school year of my 31-years as an educator.

In the words of Paul Harvey: "Now for the rest of the story." If you are too young to know Paul Harvey, look him up. He was one of the greatest news personalities this country has ever seen.

At the 12-mile mark is the city of Lake View. There is a nice trail rest stop in Lake View. That's where I was when I received a text from Andrew Post, Layla Post's husband, notifying me of the birth of their son, Andrew Cyrus Post. I took a short break from riding to forward his text to the St. Ann staff members because we had all been awaiting the news. The birth announcement was one of the highlights of the ride.

The other highlight happened just before the 18-mile mark. That's when I started my prayers. I like to pray when I ride. I apologized to God for not praying as often as I should. That's when I felt the rear tire starting to go flat. If you pray, this next part makes sense. In feeling the rear tire going flat, I didn't question, I didn't complain. I just said, "I get it." For the rest of the long and painful bike ride, I thanked God for giving us this opportunity and extra time to spend together in prayer. So, instead of being upset about not preparing properly for this ride, I recognized my need to spend more time in prayer. So, I used this time to pray. What turned out to be one of the most physically demanding and painful things I have ever done also turned out to be a blessing in allowing me time to pray.

My lack of preparation turned into something good and great. On that ride, I learned about the arrival of the newest member to our St. Ann family, and I spent several hours of uninterrupted prayer time. Even though it took me several days to recover physically, I'm glad my Delta Heritage Trail ride took place. On the ride, God used that time to remind me the importance of and the need to appreciate both life and prayer.

Congratulations to Andrew and Layla Post on the arrival of their son. And, thank you God for your many blessings.

God bless you,

Didier Aur, Principal

St. Ann Catholic School

Previous Blog: https://didieraur.blogspot.com/2021/03/is-that-light-we-are-seeing.html

Is That a Light We Are Seeing?

Is that a light we are seeing at the end of the narrow COVID-19 tunnel; the light we have been anticipating since last March? I do believe it is! The end of the tunnel is getting closer. The problem is the end is still far away. Yet, the tunnel is no longer quite narrow. Due to the work of our incredible scientists, researchers, chemists, medical professionals, volunteers..., the tunnel is growing wider, allowing more light to shine through giving us a much needed sense of hope that we are getting closer to the end of the tunnel. If we do not continue to do the things we need to do to keep us safe, the tunnel will continue to widen, but the end will be no nearer.

The wider tunnel is an optical illusion giving us a somewhat mythical sense of security. I do not desire to use the term "false sense of security" because we are moving in the right direction safely in opening up society to what we consider normal. The issue is that we can very quickly and easily fall back to the high pandemic transmission levels especially with the new variants of Coronavirus if we let our guard down.

The big step taking place for all schools is with teachers and staff having received the 1st dose (and for some the 2nd dose) of the vaccine. Most everyone at St. Ann will receive the 2nd dose during the Spring Break.

The CDC just announced this morning that fully vaccinated adults can now gather without masks, but asks that we continue to follow COVID-19 protocol in social distancing, hand-washing, and wearing masks. To me, this is good news giving us another opportunity of hope that the light we are seeing at the end of the tunnel is real.

As for children under 12 years of age, there is no timeline for their vaccination. I just read an article in the NY Times about vaccinating children. The part that stood out with me is that "moving below 12 years of age will require a new study and potentially a modified formulation or dose schedule." A vaccine for children under 12 isn't going to happen for awhile. The current vaccines are considered safe for 16 and above. Trials are now taking place for children 12-15 years of age.

The next step for us is to see how well we can control the spread of COVID-19 during Spring Break. Even though our numbers have been declining, will we see another spike with people gathering as they did during Thanksgiving and Christmas? Will we let down our guard and push COVID-19 protocol aside? The answers totally depend on us and our behavior during Spring Break. It is in our hands.

I am fully confident we at St. Ann will remain a safe haven for students, see the vaccination process through for our staff, follow all protocol set by the CDC and our own COVID-19 task force, and continue to see our virtual students return. With only 5% of our students on virtual learning, this is a great sign we are doing the right thing.

As we move forward, the parents of our virtual students are feeling better about their child(ren) returning to school in-person. Last week, we had two students return with two more returning after Spring Break. There are several others weighing the return to the in-person school option. And, I'm looking forward to the day virtual learning comes to an end and we have all our students attending school in-person.

Children aren't meant to sit at home learning in front of a computer. They need the interaction that comes from being with their classmates all day long. Educationally, they might do okay through virtual learning, but virtual learning doesn't help the social, emotional, or physical development of a child. Unfortunately, virtual learning is the only option many children have been afforded. Now that the tunnel is wider with more light shining through, attending school in-person is an option and a very good option at that.

As we head into Spring Break, let's enjoy the family time together and the warming weather while being mindful that we are still in the tunnel.

God bless you,

Didier Aur, Principal

St. Ann Catholic School