I feel privileged to live in the same world as this girl. Haley Gee is a 9 year old who, upon hearing of the oil spill in NorCal, took up a collection at her school. She managed to raise only about a hundred dollars, but presented it proudly to the International Bird Rescue Research Center. That grew to $450, from people inspired by her actions. Now its up past $13 000 (and you can add to it here) and the IBRRC is in the process of creating a Haley Gee Center (imagine putting that on your college application…).

I ran across this story at the same time that I first saw this music video:

Both reminded me of the potential inherent in a child’s mind. When I was in kindergarten, I asked to draw what I wanted to be when I grew up. This is the first of only two encounters that I remember between my mother and my teachers in grade school. I drew a queen. My mother was called in because this was not an appropriate goal for a child; I had to learn the difference between reality, that which is possible, and fantasy, that which is not. My mother explained to them that I’d met the Queen (of England) and knew that my name meant queen, so it was a pretty valid choice for me. Later, when I learned that the US didn’t have queens, I decided I’d be okay with President. I still want to get into politics but realize that it’s not quite as obtainable a goal as being Queen seemed all those years ago.

There’s a book by Robert Heinlein called the Cat Who Walks Through Walls. The eponymous character is a small kitten, called by everyone Schrödinger’s Cat. He is so young, in fact, that he’s not yet learned that he cannot do the impossible. And so, he is able to walk through walls.

Here’s to Haley Gee. May she never learn that she cannot do the impossible and so, continue to do it. We shall all benefit from it. Perhaps she can even teach us to forget what we’ve learned.

thanx to and also thanx to