It was 110 degrees today

Alice Springs is a small town surrounded by even smaller Indigenous communities. If we drive 12 hours north we run into the city Darwin and 12 hours south, Adelaide. In order to get to many of the surrounding communities 4WD is a must, and if it rains many communities are impassible. To these remote communities Alice Springs is the big city. My point is there are tons of remote communities surrounding this small town.

This is an image from an Alice Springs 4WD web search. It looks like this vehicles is taking supplies out bush. Those are mattresses on top, if you didn't notice.

I work for the Territory's Department of Children and Families. Because of the demographics of this area, most of the foster children in Alice are Indigenous Aboriginal. I guess I wrote all of that for context. Really, I can't sleep and wanted to talk about picking up a girl from school today.

She ran up to the van, jumped in, and started switching the radio stations until she found a tune she liked. She turned the volume up full blast. I had to turn it down a few notches on the steering wheel. She told me she likes dance and hip hop music. She really likes Beyonce'. As we drove, she rolled the window down and felt the wind with her hand and on her face as she sang along. Did I mention she's 5?

Picking her up from school was today's highlight. I felt so nostalgic and connected to her, and myself. I remember how life affirming and freeing it was to leave the confines of school. I remember that nothing was better than those few moments just after a long school day. I am glad she reminded me of that feeling. I think I teared up a little... and I think she noticed.