a post in the format of the classic children's book "fortunately"
fortunately we got out of the house on time this morning
unfortunately it started raining halfway up the hill
fortunately the 48 bus came promptly right along
unfortunately the beeatch driver did not honor my request to get on the bus and see if someone had change for a 10
fortunately a man in a tree care van pulled up and offered us a ride
unfortunately i used terrible judgment and hopped in with the kids
fortunately it turned out he was the husband/dad of the our nice neighbor mom and maya's little friend
unfortunately after a sweet hour back home making banana bread and playing princess and ninja turtles with maya we went outside to find someone had shattered the car window and ripped out the car stereo
fortunately my daughter is a champ who told her crying mother that it was okay, she would read me a story and that would make me feel better
this could go on and on. what is really bad right now is that one of the little students i know is very very sick, so send your positive wishes to him. makes you hug your own kids tighter, feel lucky, etc etc, but it is true. all these little ups and downs are just fine. i don't even have bad feelings toward the window smasher. i know nothing about him (but i guess it's a him).
last night i speed read the rest of last child in the woods by richard louv. not a work of hard science, and the ideas are mostly familar, but it packs a wallop. a parenting book spliced with worldchanging and ecotopia. it's all so true, about this generation of kids missing out on nature. makes me want to just start pickaxing all the roads around here, tearing down the fences of our little sectioned backyards, quitting my job and going into the nature/adventure park business in san francisco, or, and i haven't thought this for a while, fleeing the city. to where? some little green village somewhere? again, i want to live by a river. how can i get this river time to my children? can i help dig up mission creek?
but fortunately i like that we have kind neighbors
and fortunately we have many beautiful green spaces we can bring our kids to if we get off ourlazy you know whats
and fortunately a car window is not bank-breaking
here is a picture of a dragon miles' kinder class made. i know this is not a great post but it has not been a great week, so excuse me.
happy chinese new year
2 comments:
Sorry to hear about your window. I feel your pain.
snow day. read your blog some more.
our car got jacked up & the radio stolen. irony was the radio was broken. and one year old. still under warranty, and i was not excited about making the claim. still they did a bunch of irreversible damage to the car, and the worst thing was explaining to the kids about "robbers."
i understand the argument about kids and nature, but i tell you what, i am not buying it. two reasons.
one, back in the goode olde days, when everyone had abundant nature, people were ignorant as hell and cruel to each other & animals. and their teeth fell out, and they died of colds, and they shit in an outhouse, which often drained into their well, and they struggled to get enough calories and protein every day. and this was america, a pretty prosperous nation. the good old days were terrible. they thought slavery was a good idea. so much for growing up with lots of nature. if it's really so great, why was life in the past so short and miserable and awful.
second reason. why are we not nature? people are nature. we make beautiful things. and ugly things sure. but we also have beautiful thoughts. and we can kind to each other. i don't see why all the people in the world, and the settled land, necessarily restricts our access to nature.
the natural / artificial division is hooey on an important level. yeah we all hate styrofoam. but a painting by a person, or a musical performance by a person, can totally kick the ass out of a robin and a dandelion and some wading in the white clay creek. nature is all the stuff. everything that is not your soul is nature. even your body is nature. see emerson, whitman, etc.
i hope your little friend is doing better today.
and i am with you when you write about your maya. i know the feeling exactly. your kids are probably the best nature there could ever be. how can any park compare. no wonder it seems to you like the rest of nature is not such a great offering when they already so fantastically great. i understand you.
take care
jon m
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