Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1998 04:44:37 -0500 (EST)
Random Thought: A Quickie Random Thought: Cans and Can'ts

It was a gorgeous morning. The air was as clear as a flawless cyrstal and crisp as the snap of a fresh potato chip. The rising sun set a lone, distant herring bone cloud afire with more shades of color than Roget has synonoms. The masters are no competition for the spectacular beauty of nature's art work.

It was a good walk, a surprisingly refreshing walk, and I almost missed it.

I woke this morning with my legs stiff as boards from having hauled and knelt, from having gotten up and down, from bending over and nailing all day as I completed the addition of an 8' x 8' section to the deck by the fish pond yesterday. Orders from my angelic boss.

Anyway, I opened the door, slowly; went out and hit the street, reluctantly. From the first step I was struggling to convince myself that the effort was enough and that after a few blocks I could stop with a satisfying, "I tried," and return home to the comfort of a freshly brewed cup of coffee.

And so, in rhythm with every step, I said to myself, "I cannot do this today." "I cannot do this today." "I cannot do this today." But, with each step the decibel level of my protest lowered and the conviction waned and I ripped away that barrier I struggled to build until by the one mile post I protested no more. And, I did do it. I glided the remaining three miles, learning once again that if I took the "nots" out of my clogging "cannots" then the "cans" freely entered by spirit and the "knots" came out of my legs. That got me thinking and concluding about some magnificant stuff that happened in the classes this week:

Want to be a good teacher, a better teacher? Want to be a good learner, a better learner? Let the hooked-nosed, evil can't lie squashed and sticking out from under the house like the Witched Witch of the East, and kick yourself in your can.