4 Miles: Talk about a play on words today-we quite literally were fighting to see with clarity today as the power randomly went out within our school from about 11:20-12:45. Naturally, without a wink, my students quietly went to their desks, brought their desk lamps I had given them for the holiday season and we simply carried our lights wherever we went within the classroom. Our stereotype creative writing lesson continued without a hitch, and I smiled as I realized you simply cannot blow out the flame of love and learning regardless of visible clarity. 

As I ran today, I just continued thinking of this image of darkness which in my mind transformed into the silhouette of a dark tree with leaves shaped like birds. However, as I drew closer and closer with every mile, I could see the leaves begin to rustle and instead of falling (like normal leaves) they began to fly gently away into the sunlit sky dimming every so gently. For their silhouettes contained wings and those wings allowed them to scatter into the light. You begin to think about those lives you have come in contact with, the students you have taught, maybe your own kids or relatives or family members. You think-have all of my conversations allowed me to create a tree where the birds stand for the people I love and the individuals I have met and if thrown a bit of darkness....will they scatter towards the light? When dark and light work together-certainly the soul becomes what it is meant to be.