Day ten

You find a dry branch in the snow that turns into a magic wand in your hands.

Time 12:01-12:06 a (a little late for today I know) prompt: from iPhone application

The snow had been surprisingly light that whole winter. The most snow we got in New Jersey was 2 inches in October and a few more inches here and there from November to March.

"global warming" they said..."it's 2012...more proof that the world is going to end in December."

It didn't stop when we had the freak blizzard that dumped 14 inches on campus 2 days after Easter.

Of course I was out exploring the snow and enjoying the fact that my mid west upbringing has allowed me to be out and about while the rest of the state was in..,afraid of the snow.

I was on my way to the supermarket when in a field next to the market I saw a spot of green in the middle of the field that appeared to be untouched my the snow.

I decided to wander out to the opening and see what it was.

10 minutes of struggling through the snow got me to the clearing where I found...nothing. Nothing but a large stick that appeared to have a glint to the bark.

I picked up the branch to get a closer look. The moment my hand touched the bark it transformed into a sturdy wand.

Glancing around I could tell that no one had seen my discovery. I waived the wand...

And nothing happened

No seriously...nothing happened.

So I focused on the idea of making my friend float. I waived the wand again, focused on my floating friend.

Nothing happened.

I wanted to pitch the wand to the horizon. But there was something that made me keep it. I stick it in my purse and forget about it.

2 weeks later I was in my office going through meeting after meeting of conduct. This wasn't new...but it was a new change. It was nice...but something felt off about every single one of my conduct meetings taking responsibility for their actions.

The next day the same thing happened. I couldn't figure out why. Two days later I forgot my purse and the mysterious wand at home. That was the day from hell...no one wanted to listen. Staff misbehaved, residents went crazy, and even professional staff went a little nuts.

I just didn't get it. And then it hit me...the wand wasn't really a wand...it was more like social Prozac. When it was in my office people became less crazy, residents took responsibility for their actions, and when parents call they were more helpfully that demanding.