The Joy of Finding Something Beautiful in an Unexpected Place

Blog #3

     The college professor told us to bring our favorite library books to the children’s literature class the following week.  I picked out Heidi, Little Women and others, but to my surprise we did not share our love of the books.  Instead he gave us some California poppies and explained that they have nyctinasty. (This is the property that some plants have that makes them close at night and open in the morning.  The plant, if put in a totally dark room, would still do the same.)  He told us to put a flower in each of our favorite library books. By doing this we would give to someone we did not know “the joy of finding something beautiful in an unexpected place.”

      He said that his daughter had found a pressed flower in a library book and was just thrilled by it. It was “the joy of finding something beautiful in an unexpected place.” There is the question begging for a response: who put it there and why?  It feels almost like a message in a bottle.

      My mother pressed flowers and four-leaf clovers in some of her favorite childhood books, only to be discovered several decades later, by her book-loving children. They were a joy to find and a connection to make!

      What a great lesson this graduate school professor gave his students, who were also educators! An appreciation was gained for finding something beautiful in an unexpected place and learning to give that joy to others in and out of our classrooms.