The problem with meeting the family of students is a misperception of who they, the children, are. It's easy to think of the kids I teach as characters in a sitcom that I watch from 7:30 to 3:30 each weekday...

After meeting with their parents (whether biological, step, adopted, well-wishing, etc.) I realize that each student is an actual person with a life that extends beyond the school day.

Troubling? Yes, because I worry about actual children more than the fake ones.
(None of this crap is making any sense.)

So, to sort it all out, I went for a long, warm, muddy and glorious hike.



Life in the canyon, blood pumping, ice melting, wind whipping and water flowing. Why should this January be like last year's?
Death in the canyon. We all need to eat, right...

My perceptions of life and death and children and parents and freezing and flawing are all muddled and whisper quiet. Is each new moment, or child, or breath, or snowstorm a gift?

No, not if we don't see them that way.



Robert Pirsig writes in his book of scripture, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance:

“Mountains should be climbed with as little effort as possible and without desire. The reality of your own nature should determine the speed. Then, when you are no longer thinking ahead, each footstep isn't just a means to an end but a unique event in itself.”