A Kodak Moment

We had a fence installed this week. This has been a long awaited coming. We have discussed it for a few years and last year we started the yard preparations. In the fall, we had our old 6 foot hedge removed. That was fun to watch. We had a neighbor with a John Deere and all its attachments blazing through the lawn ripping up and dumping earth. I watched the hedge disappear right before my very eyes. Earlier in the day, I phoned my dear old neighbor and warned her so that she would not be disoriented when she saw the newly cleared view. After the earth was all churned up, we had it leveled. Fresh smell of turned earth lingered and we had a canvas of possibility emerge. And now we have a beautiful white picket fence. It really is a work of art. It all started as a need to set a safe boundary for the kids. I didn't want them running out into the street to chase a ball. The fence is almost done. A few critical pieces, like gates with locks, need to be installed. I am only too anxious for these final touches. And here is the Kodak moment. We are potty training Rose. She went through three pairs of underwear by noon. I went out to the garage to start a load of laundry and Bill went upstairs in search of diapers and Rose let herself out in the backyard and quickly wandered to the front whereupon I returned to the kitchen and asked: Where is Rose? I noticed the open french door and I quickly ran to the front yard to head her off, if, indeed, she was wandering around the gate-less yard naked. And there she was in the front yard naked and heading for a victory lap. Monday we are having the gates installed. Tonight, I am having Bill run to the hardware store to buy Rose-proof padlocks.

Ode to good ole Tidewater Tap

It is true that grabbing a chilled plastic bottle of water is oh, so convenient when heading out to the blazing heat of an August day. A cooler full of plastic bottled water can be your saving grace for a day at the beach. But it has come to my attention that it takes 26 litres of water, 1Kg of fossil fuel, and 1 pound of CO2 to manufacture one litre of Fiji water. So, I ask my husband: is he willing to stop buying caseloads of bottled water? He doesn't believe what I tell him about the environmental impact and he gives me a list of reasons why bottled water is in our life. But then he reads the citation http://digitaljournal.com/article/108604/ and he, too is pondering the impact. Then he proposes that I start to recycle my grocery bags by reusing them next time I go grocery shopping. One thing at a time, I tell him. I recycle those bags as trash bags, I think to myself. Now he's got me feeling guilty about those darn trash bags. I am going to give tidewater tap water a try. I started drinking bottled water over 20 years ago. Way before it was sold at convenient stores. Each morning as I headed to school or work, I would fill my bright green bottle with the funky straw attached. I would refill it as I passed a fountain and I would rinse it in the sink each night. I never liked the funky straw so I won't be going down that route. This whole thing has me thinking and now I am thirsty for a chilled bottle of....chilled glass of tidewater tap.

Have You Finished your Christmas Shopping Yet?

I haven’t posted in awhile. I have made attempts but have had some technical difficulties. And I have been busy… That’s my mantra and it used to make me tired just saying it. Then one day someone said to me that if you want to get something done, ask a busy person. So I stay busy and I keep getting things done. So, I decided to start Christmas shopping. I may be about 15 years too late. There are no toys left. No toys made in the USA, that is. Well, you can find a wonderful wooden game of Chinese checkers, and a jazzy wooden jump rope. But I was looking for the incandescent pink and purple stuff with glitter and flowing nylon hair…the Barbie type stuff or a cuddly vinyl doll with sleepy eyes. Not gonna find it. We are at the mercy of the Chinese toy manufacturers who crank out miles of useless colored plastic pieces that end up getting stuck in my vacuum cleaner. Only, now it comes with loose deadly magnets and poisonous lead paint. And now I am getting suspicious of whether there was negligence or intent to harm. It seems that once the problems were identified, the Chinese officials temporarily ceased exports from one manufacturer. That weekend, the co-owner of said facility committed suicide. I have to wonder, was the suicide the result of a crippling mental illness gone untreated or from the weakness of an individual who wanted to avoid facing the consequences? So, is the Chinese government trying to poison our children? Or are we just facing the consequences of wanting cheap toys? Maybe we need to open a toy factory in the Heartland and charge accordingly for the toys that are produced. I would gladly trade in the convenience of having access to millions of toys for under $20 and pay $150 for one nice doll that my daughter would really treasure.

Eutrapalia

I did a search for this virtue and found about 12 hits. Twelve hits? This is an amazing "virtue" and noone has written exhaustively about it? I will now be lucky hit number thirteen. In a quick scan of the sites where eutrapalia is found I learned that it was a virtue discussed by St. Thomas and a vice if used by late night talk show hosts. What am I talking about? The virtue of playtime and humor. I found it referred to in a poem as such: "Long neglected in the listing- Mainfested through the playing At appointed time for resting: Games, and walking, even dancing- Yes, we speak of recreation! So Thomistic: Eutrapalia." And yet another blogger, Father Sibley, writes that a lack of eutrapalia is a vice! So, it is quickly becoming my favorite virtue and one I hope to master. I think we are born with this virtue and somehow lose it along the way as we seek to achieve a clean house, well-behaved children, or a stellar curriculum vitae. I think I will start to work on this virtue as soon as I have mopped the floor, made dinner, and prepared my next art therapy presentation. Oh, and I will let the kids continue their virtuous life of play as soon as their room is clean. Hope I made you smile. Have a great play day.