One of the first things I did when we moved to Valley Center was to coordinate and consolidate the school calendars with our family calendar. After all, I’m a mom and a former teacher. I’ve got a kid with Type 1 Diabetes in second grade and another child in preschool. I understand the importance of being prepared for field trips, pizza days and book fairs.
I noticed that in April the Primary School and Elementary School students would be attending Ag Day. At least I thought they’d be attending. I wasn’t sure exactly what Ag Day was and therefore had not a clue about what one might do with or for an Ag.
It’s okay to laugh, you won’t be the first one.
I spoke with my husband and said, “you don’t suppose this is referring to agriculture?”. He told he was pretty sure Ag Day was really Agricultural Day and would in some way be relating to the fact that we now live in an agriculturally based community.
A beautiful Ag Day
I have a lot to learn. When I mentioned Ag Day to my sister-in-law she said, “Is there also an Urban Day where you can get a coffee, do some shopping, go to a book store and then get Vietnamese for lunch?”. I have a LOT to learn about being in the country.
I’ve now attended two Ag Days. Valley Center School District has a school farm. Parents and volunteers came together to showcase the agriculture, the ranching and the beauty of this paradise we live in. It’s very dusty. There are lots of kids and my fear of snakes was on overload. I’m not going to lie, I was a fish out of water or perhaps a better metaphor would be a Mama far away from Starbucks. It was lovely though, to see the children learning about palm trees, planting and how to be better stewards of our environment. It was also priceless to hear my son at the dairy exhibit exclaim slightly horrified, “Milk comes from THAT?!”.
Benjamin inspects a milk cow
Along with the whole country community thing comes a wonderful sense of belonging. At this last Ag Day I saw quite a few parents that I am beginning to know. They were all kind. They laughed with me about my ignorance. They checked in with B. They offered us cool water. This really is such a great place to raise our boys.
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