olive and glenn frey
insist on helping me
with the process of
sorting paperwork and doing bills.
they have been training for years
and clearly feel they are financial wizards.
—
“cats can work out mathematically
the exact place to sit that will cause most inconvenience.”
-pam brown
some ancient wisdom in a parisian bookshop.
—
image credit: open homes open hands us
“many people are good at talking about what they are doing,
but in fact do little.
others do a lot but don’t talk about it;
they are the ones who make a community live.”
― jean vanier
working together on a community cleanup project at *the dequindre cut in detroit
on a day filled with helping hands
larger than life art
walkers, runners, bikers, dogs and blue skies.
*the dequindre cut greenway is an urban recreational path in downtown detroit that opened to the public in May of 2009. … formerly a grand trunk railroad line, the dequindre cut is a predominately below-street level 2 mile long greenway with separate lanes for cyclists and pedestrians.
—
“if your support the community, they will support you.”
-jerry greenfield
—
dequindre-cut, detroit riverfront conservancy
amidst the more than a million people without power days
our local library
has been opening at 6am
and closing late
acting without anyone asking
as an ad hoc community center
in order to offer
a safe and welcoming haven to all
full of
electricity and books and computers and games and story times
a friend to all ages
stay as long as you like
take as much as you need
on a morning visit
during my current nomadic existence
i sat with 2 high schoolers
an old couple
college roommates
a gaggle of 3 year olds
and a family
all here for the same reasons
a bit of respite
a cup of coffee
a bite to eat
a wealth of good company
a comfortable chair
and
an awful lot of warmth.
—–
“a library outranks any other one thing a community can do to benefit its people.
it is a never failing spring in the desert.”
― andrew carnegie
what a beautiful morning to help
at the annual
juvenile diabetes research foundation event
and
to take a great walk after
right in the mix with
dogs, babies, strollers, scooters, families,
friends, teams, singles, wagons and trees
and then come to the end
very happy to have been a part of it all.
“we are all here on earth to help others;
what on earth the others are here for I don’t know.”
-w.h. auden
—
—
photo credit: steve townsend
the big one helps the little one.
—
“our prime purpose in this life is to help others.
and if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them.”
-dalai lama
the playground community
was worried
and
unsure what to do
how to help
there had been an accident
it had happened to one of their own
one’s hair somehow
got wound around
the button of another
the two involved
sat down next to each other
(no other logistical choice really)
one put her arm around the other
one big one
helped them to unwind it
one turned away
unsure how to help
one stood by
ready to help
one stood at a safe distance
watching closely
helping by being near
and
in the end
all was well
once more.
—
without a sense of caring, there can be no sense of community.
anthony j. d’angelo
while the kinders were playing a farm game
with crops and cash,
some sold
some bought
some traded.
i thought all were farmers
until one came to me
to say:
“she doesn’t want to be a farmer. she said she’s a jedi warrior!
that means she’ll be stronger than all of the rest of us!”
i told him that jedi and farmers are both very strong people.
both work hard and refuse to give up.
both try to do things peacefully.
and that
they could work together with no problem.
they would be good for each other.
they would help each other.
even a jedi has to eat.
even a farmer has to stand up and be brave.
and they became a very powerful team.
—
image credits: foodtank.com, google images, star wars, lucasfilm.ltd
skip the religion and politics, head straight to the compassion.
everything else is a distraction.
– talib kweli
—
credits: open homes, open hearts, ahmad alhssani
I didn't have my glasses on.... 