Re: Replies

[Katie Fischer <kfischer@keller.clarke.edu>]

I'd like to add on to Jeanne's call to our better selves here by 
recalling a line from Walt Whitman's _When I Heard the Learn'd 
Astronomer_.  Near the end, the persona mentally escaping from an 
incarcerating class on astronomy "floats" out the window to "gaze in 
perfect silence" at the night sky.  The winter sky, whether enveloping us 
with that frosty chill of the north or the balmy caress of the south, 
offers a respite, an antidote.  Maybe a little star gazing tonight would 
help us all "hitch our wagons" on a more elevated and seasonally 
appropriate plane than we have been on this week.
	Happy Holidays.......................katie 
On Thu, 15 Dec 1994, Jeanne H. Simpson wrote:

> Dear friends,
> 
> It is the end of term for many.  May I urge us all to remember why it is
> the end of term?  Because we are about to celebrate a holiday or have been
> celebrating one.  Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa--these are intended to
> renew our spirits, to remind us of our friends and families, to look for
> joy and purpose in our lives.  
> 
> Please consider putting into perspective the annoyances, the frayed
> nerves and exhausted bodies. Take a minute to watch the snow fall. To
> enjoy the decorations. To laugh at a joke.  To say hello to an old friend.
> Or a new one.  Have a cookie and a cup of cocoa.
> 
> I wish all of my WCENTER friends the joy and peace of the season.  
> 
> Jeanne Simpson
> Eastern Illinois University
> csjhs@eiu.edu  
>