when playing outside
the kinder found a dead bird
they called out to everyone to come over to see it
they said goodbye to the bird and told her that they were sad that she had died
we put a circle of pretty leaves around her to keep her safe on her journey.
—
“teach them to be kind to animals and they will grow up to be kind to people too.”
-rumi
“despite knowing they won’t be here for long, they still choose to live their brightest lives – sunflowers.”
-rupi kaur
“i have a really big family.”
—
“families don’t have to match. you don’t have to look like someone to love them.”
-leigh anne tuohy
the restaurant of mistaken orders employs waitstaff with dementia
and you can never be exactly sure what you will be getting.
below is a statement from the restaurant to potential patrons and to the world.
—
you may think it’s crazy,
a restaurant that can’t even get your order right,
all of our servers are people living with dementia,
they may, or may not, get your order right.
however, rest assured,
that even if your order is mistaken
everything on our menu is delicious and one of a kind.
this we guarantee.
“it’s okay if my order was wrong, it tastes so good anyway.”
we hope this feeling of openness and understanding
will spread across japan, and through the world.
—
We ask for your continued support of The Restaurant of Mistaken Orders in Tokyo, Japan.
Our mission is to spread dementia awareness and to make society a little bit more open-minded and relaxed.
—
“gratitude is when memory is stored in the heart and not in the mind.”
-lionel hampton
—
source credits: https://www.japan.go.jp/tomodachi/2019/winter2019/restaurant_of_mistaken_orders.html
the government of japan
“sometimes people let the same problem make them miserable for years
when they could just say, so what.
that’s one of my favorite things to say. so what.”
-andy warhol
ann arbor pride fest 2023
—
so happy to live in a city that takes pride in all people and celebrates everyone.
—
“festivals promote diversity, they bring neighbors into dialogue, they increase creativity,
they offer opportunities for civic pride, they improve our general psychological well-being.
in short, they make cities better places to live.”
-david binder
After their LGBTQ pride flag was stolen twice in recent weeks, a pair of Ann Arbor churches are responding the only way they know how — giving away more flags.
St Aidan’s Episcopal Church and Northside Presbyterian Church, which share a building in Ann Arbor, are launching a “Need A Flag, Take A Flag” event today. The event will feature 300 LGBTQ pride flags and allow anyone in need of a flag to take home their own handheld versions.
Although the event is in part a Pride Month celebration, the inspiration for it comes from the theft of the churches’ own flags. On April 3, church leadership received an email saying someone had removed the flag and thrown it into the bushes. On June 1, the churches reported the replaced flag had been stolen completely.
“I still haven’t found it,” said the Rev. Thomas Ferguson, vicar at St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church. The Rev. Jenny Saperstein, pastor at Northside Presbyterian Church, told Ferguson, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, that whoever took it must have needed a flag. “She said, let’s answer this with something positive,” Ferguson said.
The churches, which often partner on social justice issues, will have 300 flags available and plan to order more if they run out. Launching the event on a Sunday allows the entire congregation to get involved with the advocacy, Saperstein said. “It’s really this church community that stands for that,” Saperstein said. “Not just the pastors.”
Hearing affirming messaging from churches is especially important for marginalized communities. “We’ll hope to change hearts and minds with love,” Ferguson said. “We’re not going away, and we’re not changing our stance here with the oppressed.”
—
Donde termina el arco iris,
en tu alma o en el horizonte?
Where does the rainbow end,
in your soul or on the horizon?
― Pablo Neruda, The Book of Questions
—
source credit: jordyn pair, mlive, ann arbor news
after 3 years
my little stick
left untouched
given time and space
has grown into
a baby peony tree
well worth the wait
for its very first bloom.
—
“in early june, the world of leaf and blade and flowers explodes, and every sunset is different.”
-john steinbeck
what a wonderfully kind gesture
for someone to leave a gallon of milk and bread behind
to be discovered by someone else who may need it more.
—
“let us temper our criticism with kindness. none of us comes fully equipped.”
-carl sagan
“america is a tune. it must be sung together.”
-gerald stanley lee
I didn't have my glasses on.... 