My Personal Cheshire Cat

Dear Diary,

The light was really nice on my Cheshire Cat in the old Locust tree in the driveway. When I was on sabbatical from my teaching in 1997 to study at the Philosophy of Education Research Center at Harvard University, I wrote a report on issues of creativity in the classroom.  I used Alice in Wonderland as a theme for the report.  A poster with this quote always hung in my classroom.  Alice, for me, exhibited some admirable characteristics that I wanted my students to adopt; an innate curiosity, a willingness to take risks and a persistence to carry on in the face of difficulties. 

My cousin made this cement cat and instead of placing it in the garden, I popped it up in the tree as a reminder of Alice and the Cheshire Cat.  It makes me smile to see it sitting up there.  I started my report with Alice’s interaction with the White Queen.  I still believe it is the basis of creative thought and endeavor…

Alice laughed: "There's no use trying," she said; "one can't believe impossible things."
"I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was younger, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."