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Power


The Day is Done by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 The day is done and the darkness 
Falls from the wings of Night
As a feather is wafted downward
From an eagle in his flight.

 I see the lights of the village
Gleam through the rain and the mist
And a feeling of sadness comes o'er me
That my soul cannot resist...

 ...Wo through long days of labor
And nights devoid of ease
Still heard in his soul the music
Of wonderful melodies.

 Such songs have POWER to quiet 
The restless pulse of care
And come like the benediction
That follows after prayer...

"Power is of two kinds.  One is obtained by fear of punishment and the other by acts of love.  Power based on love is a thousand times more effective and permanent then the one derived from fear of punishment."  Mahatma Gandhi

Power.   At first I thought about power as strength.  These last days of February and first days of March leave me weak and seemingly without power.  As I looked through my photos, I found many pictures of power.  Some were biking.  Some were storms.  Some were the power of friendships.  When I saw the wind turbines, I stopped looking knowing I had my picture.  I find something eerily peaceful about the wind turbines each time I drive into God's Country.  My guess is I'm alone in this feeling, but I love looking across the prairie at the majestical structures that actually produce energy. They're truly full of power.

Speaking of power, yesterday Pat Schmatz came to give a writer's workshop to some of our students. At the last minute, I pawned a group of my students off onto a wonderful human and went to the workshop with the students.  Ms. Schmatz was amazing as she demonstrated finding the power in words.  She was engaging, energetic, empowering...  When I realized that I needed to go back to my class to teach, I was extremely disappointed.  Although there was only ten minutes of the workshop left, I felt cheated.  Teaching students the power of words is, well, powerful.


Today I am thankful for...
1) wind turbines and alternative energy sources
2) fresh cut flowers
3) guest authors and writing workshops

Comments

LH said…
We have a patch of wind turbines on the way to Chicago.
I like them a lot.
12:51 PM
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