Like clouds and wind without rain is one who boasts of gifts never given. A heavy, cool breeze crept in through three open windows, snuck around the corner, and slipped through the open door, brushing by the girl at her desk. The sky rumbled ominously. She looked up and scrunched her eyes at the... Continue Reading →
A weathered taxi pulled up to the gas station. The slightly disheveled, middle-aged driver stepped out into the early morning drizzle and straightened his hat. One of the pump attendants recognized him with a broad smile and the two men greeted each other. "Kenya mpya!" "Eh, Kenya mpya!" An odd greeting for a Saturday morning.... Continue Reading →
The deep blue and bright blue lay before her, stitched together by a grey-green horizon of stone and pine. Far above her head, the wind that knows no land whipped wispy, white waves across the sky. Just below her paddle, milk-white moon jellies danced slowly around the emerald-green sea-grass. A pair of bald eagles swooped... Continue Reading →
Jomo Kenyatta Airport is close. Not a two-minute walk away kind of close, but an over-crowded birdcage kind of close. The halls of the international terminal are narrow and the ceilings low; the duty-free shops are small and have goods stacked in every available nook. The terminal follows the shape of a shallow semi-circle, so... Continue Reading →
Hope is powerful. Like gravity, or magnetic fields, or water - it keeps our inner world centered, pulls us in new directions, seeps to the dark and crowded corners of our minds washing away the mess of lies and doubts that we accumulate. Hope is silent too, like the first blooms of spring - you... Continue Reading →
Last October, in my post on change and the wind, I mentioned a little umbrella tree that I have in a pot on my balcony. For over a year it has survived without growing an inch. I would water it regularly and turn it occasionally so that it could catch the sun from a different... Continue Reading →
Samuel Johnson - British author and critic in the late 1700's - once wrote, "Whoever surveys the world must see many things that give him pain." This afternoon, when I came home from school, Benson opened the gate for me as he usually does. I stopped on my way in and rolled down the window.... Continue Reading →
What is success? How do we cultivate successful students? How do we model it as teachers? Is it possible to both succeed AND fail in the same endeavor? If so, is the overall effect one of success or failure? In my education classes at university, we generally defined educational success in two ways: a) meeting... Continue Reading →
Sunday afternoon. I sat on the step outside the rehearsal room resting my heavy eyelids and listening to the wind in the trees. At 3:15, only four out of sixteen of us had arrived. Don't fight it, go with the flow Lillis. No one else seems annoyed that everyone is late for practice. I looked... Continue Reading →
We live speaking permanence and breathing change. The gentle tap of raindrops on the pavement crept into the silence. Is that rain? I got out of bed and peered through the window into the gray-washed dawn. Wow - three days in a row now. After it's been dry for weeks. The young girl looked at... Continue Reading →
Of Wonders & Wanders 
Recent Comments