Day 111 - Cold Cows

Thought of the day: I am not a fan of Valentine's Day celebrations in school.  I experienced that phenomenon the first time when Jasmine started her preschool in Boulder.  The school asked everybody to send a valentine's card to everybody else.  There were 44 kids in total and a couple of teachers in addition to that.  That's a lot of cards to make for a 3 year old.  So I ended up doing most of the work myself.  In return, she received 40+ cards - mostly flimsy store bought ones but a few were nice hand made cards which made me wonder the amount of time it must have taken for the poor kids, and parents, to make.  Anyway, the whole experience felt laborious, forced, and artificially sweet with all the candies attached to the cards.  Some schools take a different approach and let the kids decide who to send cards to.  The downside of that is there will always be kids who are left out.  Imagine the loneliness and sadness a child must feel when she doesn't get a valentine when everybody else happily receives theirs.  It's as easy for happiness to be taken for granted like the air you breathe as it is for sadness to cling to you like the shadow.  In my opinion, the inconsolable misery of a single child can't be compensated by the fleeting happiness of a hundred.  So, I am not a fan of Valentine's Day celebrations in school.  I wish this tradition would be replaced by a heart-felt field trip to a retirement home, a homeless shelter, or a hospital.  It's never too early to learn that love has a much richer meaning than simply being admired.

Photo of the day:

A photo of some cows and a truck from inside my car.  It was so cold that I wouldn't even roll down the window to take this shot.  It was so cold that the cows practically begged to be moved into the shelter.  I suppose that one way to show your love to your cows is to give them shelter when the weather is so harsh outside.