The Warmth of the Sun

Has it really been a month? Unbelievable. If you are a music fan you will recognize the title of the post as a song by the Beach Boys. Of course, it's possible to be a music fan and not know many songs of the Beach Boys outside of California Girls and Fun, Fun, Fun but that would be a real shame. But I promise I won't pass judgment on you-at least not right now. The song The Warmth of the Sun is both depressing (the melody) and hopeful (the lyrics) at the same time. It was written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love the night President Kennedy was shot in 1963. I wasn't born then, but whenever my mom's brother played his Endless Summer album it was this song that I wanted to hear over and over again. It came to my head as I sat outside with my class this past Friday, all of us soaking up the sun. It was prom Friday, and at my school prom Friday means lots and lots of students are absent since they are busy with hair, nails, make up, massages, straight edged shaves, facials, etc. etc. So with the few students who showed up for my class, we ventured outside and enjoyed Michigan's first sunny, 70+degree spring day. While basking in the sun one of my students began engaging in conversation with me. This student, by the way, says absolutely nothing in class. Zip. Zilch. Nada. He had, before prom Friday, become a bit of an obsession for me since my class is so focused on dialogue and he has simply avoided all of it for the past six weeks. Six weeks. All I got was nice smiles, polite shakes of his head when I asked him if he had anything he wanted to add to the conversation, and silence. I don't like failing at anything and I felt like a failure with this young man. Every day his silence reminded me not to get too cocky because this teaching thing is NOT easy, and like golf, can never be mastered. But on beautiful prom Friday 2009, with the sun smiling down upon us, my student cracked the door a little bit and let me sneak my foot in. What did he finally say you ask? He talked about the fact that he really doesn't talk very much. Warm, sunny, spring days always feel good, but that day felt especially great. ..."for I have the warmth of the sun, it won't ever die." (Brian Wilson). Howl On.