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Wednesday, June June 4, 2014. As simply focused as my life is right now I certainly cannot say that “life is passing me by.” The change of weather in this northern clime has worked a million times its magic on my behalf. May brought unusually cooler and wetter days to the point that it is only now as June appears that it is sunny and warm enough to lift my spirits.
I have thought about writing many posts but my thoughts never have time to develop lately. A FLASH in the pan — and they are gone like a fast bird on the wing. This morning I have decided to simply write something here. Something being “better than nothing” will have to do. This is simply a collection of tiny happenings.
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I can look outward at the lush lawn surrounding the cat tail area in front of my sliding door (the only window) now and not see TRASH!!!!! TRASH!!!
Last weekend on a coolish drizzly morning I dragged the partly broken, paint spattered 35-gallon garbage can I rescued from its spot of doom alongside the apartment complex’s dumpster around and through the cat tail (drainage) area to haul out accumulation of mostly windblown plastic items to deposit them in the dumpster. I lost track at 17 full containers delivered.
I say nothing to the management of these buildings. They know who cleaned that up. I know they know. My neighbor told me so. Am I asking for recompense from them? Nope. This is on their conscience. They certainly were not going to clean that dump up on their own.
Nobody who lives here, certainly myself, was going to feel inspired by the tiny piece of nature that holding area contains as it looked before I went to work on it. And I DO know how to work! Maybe that job took me 4 hours. The benefit of the clean-up is immeasurable to the well-being of all who gaze upon it — especially the children!
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Children. My life continues to swirl around the weekday care of my youngest grandson who just turned 22 months old. Along with him have arrived children of many sizes, “colors,” planetary origins and religions. All as gorgeous flowers who surround me as families escape the winter confines of small apartments out into the long light of northern days. I have kept with me at least a dozen plastic kitty litter trays purchased from dollar stores over the years (never used for original intention). They hold craft projects, sorted items for this-n-that — and make amazing individual little water play trays out on my cement “patio” for many young children to delight themselves with on a day’s afternoon.
Little African Islamic girls in their gorgeous cloth drapery, their young brothers, a little lost so-very-sad Anglo 4-year-old girl who recently lost her mother to jail while her video-game-playing father mostly ignores her. Poor poor tiny little thing! My heart aches for HER!! (Google CDC ACE study – losing a parent to jail is one of the BIG Adverse Childhood Experiences that can turn a child’s life in the direction of tragedy over its lifespan.) Hugs and much love she will get over here as I seek to understand her too-fast speaking so hampered by her great need for speech therapy.
And there are the many mothers of the many young children, immigrants to Fargo from Nepal as well as the refugees and immigrants from Africa who live here. All, big and small, with wreathing smiles! I have learned to set my one canvas folding chair, bright red, just on the grass for all the mothers who stop by to sit in while they inspect with calmness the activities of their young ones.
Yesterday afternoon – out came my 5 bottles of liquid poster paint from Wal-Mart (white, black, red, blue, yellow), some of my collection of 100 paint brushes and piles of typing paper. We were blessed with NO WIND whatsoever! All children from 6th graders to age 2 — around 10 of them — sat calmly together on that small cement slab outside my door with those paints and taught themselves and one another how to mix every color they could think of. Four hours later I could have hung a small gallery with their creations.
Not one fuss except for the little lost girl — who tells me her parents walked away somewhere and are lost themselves (which makes me wonder if the man caring for her is her birth father or not) – who I finally had to walk home after 8 pm while the other children’s careful watchers never let their little ones out of their sight. One of the elder men from Nepal stood unmoving at the top of a small knoll under the shade of a tree watching his little girl for over 4 hours. He never interfered with her play. He “just” loved her.
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Here is our first book out in ebook format. A very kind professional graphic artist is going to revise our cover pro bono (we are still waiting to hear that he has accomplished this job – I think we will have to find an alternative!). Click here to view or purchase –
It lists for $2.99 and can be read by Amazon Prime customers without charge. Reviews for the book on the Amazon.com site
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Stop the Storm 