Bixby Rodeos, Ozark Adventures, and Millenium Problems

     

   The Bixby Rodeo and College T-Shirt Day

     Three weeks in Tulsa have flown by already, and the five am wake ups, bus ride to school, sweltering heat, and gloriously freedom filled weekends have become a strangely routine rhythm. I find that there are two highlights to everyday. The first highlight is when I get to teach my morning class. Our class is learning about ratios and algebraic expressions, and you can imagine just how riveting a class of fidgety 7th graders finds that material. However, this week, every day I have explained one of the millennium problems to my class. Millennium problems are problems which have gone unproven or unexplained in mathematics. These problems are considered vital to continue the progress of science and engineering in the decades to come. Solving one of these problems comes not only with fame but fortune- the mathematician who proves these theorems will earn 1 million dollars. Upon hearing this, my top student immediately lost any interest in solving our most pressing class problem concerning ratios and promptly declared he would rather solve a millennium problem. I told him we would work on it together at lunch.
     After class we typically have afternoon professional development classes. I won't bore you with the details here. 'Nough said. However, the day typically gets only better from that point on and the second highlight of my day is a lazy bike ride along the embankments that hug the Arkansas river. The evenings are thick and humid. In a way they are distinctly beautiful and unique. There is none of the evening Pacific coolness that I became accustomed to while in the Bay, only the scent of old hardwood forests and ripening corn in the sun.
     Today I escaped school, lesson planning, and planning in general and hit the road bound for Arkansas and some backwoods, river gorge climbing. All I can say is, holy smokes. Arkansas is an absolutely stunning, verdant place. The green wrapped hills are punctured by dramatic red sandstone canyons that plunge into rivers. The Ozarks ain't the Rockies, but they'll do just fine during these 5 weeks! I climbed with a few fellow Colorado core members at Horseshoe Canyon Ranch, and it was a fine day of scouting sandstone lines. Check out the pictures!

 Clippin' bolts

 lil' layback for y'all

The Outstanding Ozarks

      One last bit of unbelievable serendipity. On our way home from climbing, I was driving and looking for a place to grab a dinner away from the dining hall (let's just say fried catfish isn't my thing). As we hurtled through yet another tiny Arkansas town, my eyes spotted what appeared to be a shady Thai restaurant- Thai City! Perfect! I quickly pulled our car into the lot and we strolled inside and took a table. No sooner had I taken a seat than I hear a voice behind me. "Ben Bradshaw?" Disbelief shrouded my mind. I turned around only to find an old friend, Austin Hindrichs standing behind me. Unbelievable. From Temecula to Tulsa and still finding people I know.
     Tomorrow begins another busy day of lesson planning. But, before I do that I think church and a mountain bike ride are in order. Priorities. . . .

     Thinking of all the friends and family I have been blessed with. Thank you for your prayers and support!