2 kinders cross paths at the doorway of our little classroom bathroom – one coming in, one exiting. the one exiting has pants down and is walking out like nothing is unusual and is on a sunday stroll in the park. one coming in yells out, ‘cover that up! no one needs to see your _____ (anatomically correct body part)!!’ – like a very bad day at the park. well said, little one.
I have as much privacy as a goldfish in a bowl.
i love everything about baby soccer. the babies, so cute in their jerseys, and shin guards and special shoes, are running up and down and off the field, looking for parents, saying hi to siblings and relatives who come to watch, stopping to pet a dog, following a shiny object, laying on the field crying, shrieking occasionally, taking water breaks from the exhaustion of standing on a line, asking to go to the playground just over the fence, running for sudden bathroom breaks – the fun is endless. coach does his best, just trying to harness everyone into one area and make sure they have a shirt on. he is patient and kind and cares about his budding athletes.
here, my grandbaby b scores a goal, and then the reactions come. she stares at it wondering what is going on, and other players respond accordingly; check for a boo-boo on a leg, hang on parents, turn their backs, stand and look down the field, and one even run towards her, after the fact. it is truly a sport unto it’s own. there is no ego, no celebration dance, just pure wonder.
one of my favorite fund-raisers ever, sitting quietly at the register of my favorite local mexican street food carryout place.
Tis not enough to help the feeble up, but to support them after.
first parent note of the year – love it. school is in, bring it kindergarten!
Raising kids is part joy and part guerilla warfare.
Ed Asner
stop crying, you are hurting my ‘ear-plums!’ – m
first week back feelings
joy and tears rule kinder’s day
look to year ahead
except for now and except for this lane and except for this orange barrel and except for who knows how long?
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in complex trains of thought signs are indispensable. – George Henry Lewes
words are but the signs of ideas. – Samuel Johnson
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happy to welcome my kindergarten back yesterday, and not only the children, but the parents as well. i gain so much wisdom from them everyday. one mother, returning with her 3rd young child, reminded me of how she’s able to get everyone dressed and off to school on time. i have always seen this process as a minor miracle, having had to deliver 3 young ones to school at one point in my own life.
she told me she does the laundry and then simply dumps all of it into one giant pile. the kids then climb and all forage around it, until they are able to put an outfit together. and that’s it, they are ready for the day. no stress, and always an adventure for all. i think this is brilliant.
‘it’s better to have loved and lost than to do 40 pounds of laundry a week.’
– salvatore dali
had an interesting conversation with my friend. we took turns coming up with one word that defined each of us, and he immediately blurted out the following word that he felt was me: rigmarole.while i had a somewhat negative image of what this word meant, i always liked the sound of it and it was an interesting word to say the least. i decided to look it up for further clarification. after referring to a traditional source, the oxford english dictionary, i found that i rather liked the definition, appreciated the origin of the word, and finally, embraced it as my own. i took it to mean that i simply live life, with all of its complications, and i share my stories, and though not all are long and rambling, i’m quite happy with that.
rigmarole
Syllabification: (rig·ma·role)
Pronunciation: /ˈrig(ə)məˌrōl/
noun [usually in singular]
Origin:
mid 18th century: apparently an alteration of ragman roll, originally denoting a legal document recording a list of offenses
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Stories are a communal currency of humanity. – Tahir Shah
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missing her today
my sis my friend and she was
gone way too early
i love this building, stuck right in the heart of our bustling and modern downtown. each and every time i walk by, i am drawn in once again, as i encounter its beauty, and especially its ‘and a half’ address. each time, i feel as mesmerized by it as i felt the first time i ever laid eyes on it.
a historic house known as ‘the shant’, (officially called “the hall of omicron”), it now serves as a meeting place for the university of michigan chapter of the delta kappa epsilon (DKE) fraternity, as well as the headquarters for the international fraternal organization and the gerald ford library.
architect william lebaron jenney, later known as the ‘father of the american skyscraper,’ designed the building. jenney came to ann arbor as a professor to found the architecture program at the university of michigan. the library is named after gerald ford, one of five presidents who were members of DKE. it houses books that were written by or about DKE brothers as well as memorabilia.
according to A Century and a Half of DKE, a history of the fraternity, (founded in 1855, 10 years after the first frats came to the university of michigan), the building was used only for fraternity ritual in its early years. the cornerstone was laid in 1878 and construction was completed the following year. an exterior eight-foot high brick wall was added in 1901, increasing the building’s mysterious appearance. it was used only for late night meetings, the gas-lit interior enhancing the building’s eeriness. today, the building still sticks out as somewhat eerie, especially in comparison with its new surroundings.
i like to imagine the secret late-night meetings, the rituals, the ghosts of times past, that still inhabit this special ‘half’ place, caught somewhere in between the past and the present.
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‘my address is like my shoes. it travels with me.’ – mary harris jones
