Every year the CEC did a 100 kilometer walk to raise money for scholarships. Milton walked 100k, the rest of us did one or two of the 25k loops, or some portion of it. I think Lev was 8 the year he first decided to walk a whole loop but he may have been 7. It was a hard 25k, on dirt roads (of course) and included some large hills, in and out of the San Luis valley. The year Lev decided to walk the whole way, Jaal and Tony decided to bike it. So, Lev and I joined up with another group of people and walked. We ended up on our own at some point because we took almost eight hours to complete it. We had a really nice time, stopping for snacks, Lev making up imaginary stories as we walked - no complaints.
As we got close to the entrance to town, nearing the completion of the loop, Milton came up behind us, with Jim on the support quad. Milton was completing his second loop as we were completing our only one. Lev really liked Milton, and the feeling was mutual.
Milton was the land manager at the CEC, and he taught practical environmental Ed classes, managed the greenhouse, tree planting,etc. When Lev stayed after school he would often do stuff with Milton, including the day when Milton harvested bananas and Lev ate about 12. Milton said that when we first came to the school, he was so amused by Lev's perfect Puerto Rican accent he would seek him out and sit with him at lunch time. Milton was also quite a joker. We had these picnic tables in front of the office that staff, visitors, and kids sat on for staff meetings or to eat lunch, etc. The picture of Lev writing, age 8, was at those tables. The were tippy and if two people sat on one side they would lift up and begin to tip. Milton found this endlessly amusing. A few years in I finally had them fixed, with little supports to stop the tipping, and Milton was so disappointed. They were so funny before, and I made them safe and practical. He had a lot in common with Lev, in the silliness of his spirit. A handful of adults really connected with Lev. He was a unique kid.
Lev was getting pretty tired when Milton fast walked/jogged up beside us, but Lev started jumping and hooting. Lev began running alongside Milton, chatting excitedly and ran the whole way back to town until the supermarket. He was so excited. He felt victorious.
Rebecca
