Reading a line from Robert Frost's take on education made me think of how turning a year older has made me a good student. Experience, triumph, heartache and waking up in trust have stripped me of my youthful arrogance (some of it anyway) and misplaced ideals. Being young and so wet behind the ears are how my cache of life events accumulated for 37 years (this year).

"Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper."
–Robert Frost

Looking at my kids showing the same spunk and pride was like looking down on a running brook. This image is similar to my own yet muddled by the running water. Trying hard not to be worried nor amused with such bravery, I have set a default mode in my mind. The best way to be able to reach out is to know what the show of pride is for. Listening by ear and heart makes better understanding that the reflection on the running brook will have a course of its own.