a letter to my students

Dear Class,

The other day I was walking along Westcliff Drive above the beach, and it was a lovely day.  The sky was that rare blue that comes when a fresh wind blows.  There were no clouds. I noticed something that brought my walk to a halt, and all I could do was look, in wonder, in appreciation, in envy.  It was the birds.  They flitted and floated and flew without effort, their wings like sails catching the wind beneath them and holding them aloft, hovering just above our heads, motionless.

Oh, if I could have a super-power, it would surely be to fly.  If I could fly, I would sail out over the water, beyond the breakers to the open sea, my path a slow curve as I bank and swoop.  At sunrise, I would fly to the nearest mountain, and in the highest tree take my seat and salute the sun, greet the morning at such a height.  At sunset, I would skim along the coast with my flying friends, head to our resting places. 

If I could fly, I would take the wide view and open myself to a broad perspective, so that in seeing the wide variety of life below me, I would know that each is an aspect of the grander whole.  I would learn that no matter how wide the circumference of the circle I carve in flight, there is always something else beyond the boundary, something new, different and exciting. 

If I could fly, I would commune with the clouds, and when I rested, I would close my eyes and retrace my excursions of the day, my mind flying as surely as my body.  Perhaps then I would understand that I don’t need wings to fly, just a spacious imagination and the will to be taken by the wind.

To spreading our wings,

Kay