swan song

Learning: A process of living

     
         Our footsteps crackle underfoot, night air swirls from our lips, and the faintness of flakes softly alight upon our faces.  In silence we approach, eyes adjusting with each slow step.  As we near the pond, strange noises travel through the darkness.  Or was that the snowflakes on my hat?  A friend's cough?  Did I hear it, or imagine it?  As we settle, and come to rest, the silence thickens.  We are still.  Yet within moments, a cacophony arises, the sounds bursting forth with an urgency and an assertiveness.  It's a marching band, a taxi horn, a conch shell blow, a melodious moan-- but above all, the overlying orchestra of trumpets.  The fugue dominates us, captivates us, leaves us spellbound and silent, all ears attuned to this magical moment.  The silhouettes of white trumpeter swans glide across the dark water, framed by a backdrop of snowy meadow and dark cottonwood trees.  There has never been a moment like this, for us, now.

         Philosopher and educator John Dewey reflected on experiencing forms of life for their own sake.  In this vein, "education is a process of living and not a preparation for future living."  Tonight, my peers and I learned within a moment of curiosity, wonder, and openness.  What else will we learn when we slow down, and just listen?