Today on the way home, we stopped the Okotoks Erratic or Big Rock. In the Blackfoot language, it is Okotok, which means rock. It weighs about 16, 500 tonnes (18, 000 tons), is about 41 by 18 metres (135 by 60) feet wide, and is about 9 metres high (30 feet).
During the Pleistocene Era between 12, 000 and 17, ooo years, a glacier dropped the big rock in what is now prairie just below the foothills and Rocky Mountains. There are two rocks and on the flat of the prairie they seem erratic and out-of-place. The size of the rocks speaks to the power of nature.
I have a question about this rock. How big was it when the glacier dropped it in its place?
Holly Near is a singer-songwriter. The following is a short excerpt from one of her songs. As she proposes, the rock appears stronger than water. But, is it?
Humans and water are resilient, they come back time and again. Our fragility makes us vulnerable, but, at the same time, provides durability. Like water slowly eroding a large rock down into smaller and smaller bits, humans, through their mindful and collective efforts, can bring about dramatic change to the world.
Can we be like drops of water falling on the stone
Splashing, breaking, disbursing in air
Weaker than the stone by far but be aware
That as time goes by the rock will wear away
And the water comes again
About ivonprefontaine
In keeping with bell hooks and Noam Chomsky, I consider myself a public and dissident intellectual. Part of my work is to move beyond (transcend) institutional dogmas that bind me to defend freedom, raising my voice to be heard on behalf of those who seek equity and justice in all their forms.
I completed my PhD in Philosophy of Leadership Studies at Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA. My dissertation and research was how teachers experience becoming teachers and their role as leaders.
I focus on leading, communicating, and innovating in organizations. This includes mindfuful servant-leadership, World Cafe events, Appreciative Inquiry, and expressing one's self through creativity. I offer retreats, workshops, and presentations that can be tailored to your organzations specific needs.
I published peer reviewed articles about schools as learning organizations, currere as an ethical pursuit, and hope as an essential element of adult eductaion. I published three poems and am currently preparing my poetry to publish as an anthology of poetry.
I present on mindful leadership, servant leadership, schools as learning organizations, how teachers experience becoming teachers, assessement, and critical thinking. I facilitate mindfulness, hospitality retreats. and World Cafe Events using Appreciative Inquiry.
I am writing and researching about various forms of leadership, how teachers inform and form their identity as a particular teacher, schools as learning organizations, hope and its anticipatory relationship with the future, and hope as an essential element in learning.
ivonprefontaine
Teacher as Transformer 
Water will always win. It might just take time.
a wonderful illustration of the power of smooth over hard,
thank you Ivon for this very meaningful post
You are welcome Eddie. Thank you.
Between a rock and a hard place….
We are caught there sometimes, trying to find our way back.
Day by day drops of water wash the rock away.
It does. It always comes back.
True
Ivon, this post is amazing… wise as always, but also very dear to my heart. It touches my heart that you are sharing about a favourite location (I feel humbled at nature’s glory every time I see it) as well as a favourite artist quoted. If you haven’t seen this already, here’s a link to a lyrics video I made in tribute to Holly Near, or one of her songs anyways.
Bright blessings to you, my dear neighbour. Namaste. Gina
Thank you for the link Gina. What a beautiful and inspiring song. Nature has a way of reminding us of our place in the universe and in a humble way. Take care and enjoy.