11/04/2025
Already it is November and long past time for a community festival like we used to have at Urban Prairie. I have run into many Urban Prairie families in recent weeks, and the message is the same: how much we miss each other and our wonderful school, how grateful we are for the time we spent together and the gifts of an Urban Prairie Waldorf education.
This fall I have been thinking about courage amid - and despite - the fading light. Recently I sat on a quiet lakefront morning and watched as a surfer in the frigid waters tried and failed, tried and failed, to catch a wave. But then suddenly the surfer was aloft and upright, riding the crest of a small wave. The sight was not exactly graceful, but it made my heart sing. On my way home, I reminisced about our Festival of Courage, when - as the drums pounded and our hearts thumped - the students tamed the dragon of strife and fear. Now, our clocks fallen back, the evenings dark early, I reflect on our littlest ones bravely carrying lanterns of light into the night. And not long from now will be the solstice, when together we walked a dark spiral toward the center and, surrounded by each other’s light, walked back out again.
How lucky we are to carry those messages of hope and light into the approaching dark of winter! I think every day about the students who carry those messages deep inside them out into the world.
I know without a doubt that all of you reading this have been enacting your own acts of courage these days, both small and huge, graceful and not-so-graceful - but full of grace just the same. Feel free to share thoughts, updates, and memories in the comments. We are, after all, once and always, a community!
—Sharla
