While it looks like I am probably going to write about that, wrongo! I am going to write about the hope that springs forth in times of need. The reference to the bowl of Lucky Charms is this: while I deprived myself of many of my favorite things during the last eight months, I decided to give myself one of my favorite all time foods, Lucky Charms cereal. Sunday night after a long day of catching up from my speech trip to Duluth, I poured myself a heaping bowl of Lucky Charms, added just the right amount of milk to be colored by the marshmallows, and ate away. It was truly magically delicious.
While all that seems really silly, eating the bowl of cereal was really rooted in many of the things I noticed last weekend at the speech meet in Duluth, which can easily be summed up in "hope springs eternal". I moved forward with eating the beloved cereal because hope says that one foray into the world of yellow moons and green clovers was not going to halt the direction I had been traveling for so many months. That realization came after hearing so many kids who didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of breaking finals saying, " I'm gonna final today."
For those you not privy to the nomenclature of speech, beyond taking first, breaking finals is about as good as it gets. It puts you in the elite group; the group of the best. They believed that even though the odds were insurmountable, they were going to final! Next week, the same will be heard echoing through other hallways as the kids make their way to their rounds, "I'm gonna final this week." even though they didn't come close the weekend before.
Hope springs eternal. What a valuable lesson for us all. In those times that try us, hope springs eternal. When we are not sure what we're doing, hope drives us on to the right path. When we've run out of hope, hope like a phoenix rises to carry us through.
Tonight as I finish my second bowl of Lucky Charms, feeling quite good about the whole thing. I can't help but buoyed up that message.
On another note, Henry Oertelt died last week. A notable Holocaust survivor, Henry's book, An Unbroken Chain, has been a part of my curriculum for many years. Via his podcast on iTunes and his well written book describing his survival of concentration camp life, many of my students learned that one thing from Henry and his ordeal, hope springs eternal that the world will NEVER know the atrocities of the Third Reich ever again. Rest in peace Henry!
Over and out.
Keith
While all that seems really silly, eating the bowl of cereal was really rooted in many of the things I noticed last weekend at the speech meet in Duluth, which can easily be summed up in "hope springs eternal". I moved forward with eating the beloved cereal because hope says that one foray into the world of yellow moons and green clovers was not going to halt the direction I had been traveling for so many months. That realization came after hearing so many kids who didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of breaking finals saying, " I'm gonna final today."
For those you not privy to the nomenclature of speech, beyond taking first, breaking finals is about as good as it gets. It puts you in the elite group; the group of the best. They believed that even though the odds were insurmountable, they were going to final! Next week, the same will be heard echoing through other hallways as the kids make their way to their rounds, "I'm gonna final this week." even though they didn't come close the weekend before.
Hope springs eternal. What a valuable lesson for us all. In those times that try us, hope springs eternal. When we are not sure what we're doing, hope drives us on to the right path. When we've run out of hope, hope like a phoenix rises to carry us through.
Tonight as I finish my second bowl of Lucky Charms, feeling quite good about the whole thing. I can't help but buoyed up that message.
On another note, Henry Oertelt died last week. A notable Holocaust survivor, Henry's book, An Unbroken Chain, has been a part of my curriculum for many years. Via his podcast on iTunes and his well written book describing his survival of concentration camp life, many of my students learned that one thing from Henry and his ordeal, hope springs eternal that the world will NEVER know the atrocities of the Third Reich ever again. Rest in peace Henry!
Over and out.
Keith
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