;)
Fabulous Yellow Roman Candles
Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at 10:53PM
It's been just over two years since we came to Texas and already, my kids know the community we live within well enough to call who would be lighting professional-grade fireworks in the middle of a suburban cul-de-sac on a Saturday night, from a half-mile away.
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We spent a glorious last evening of 2011 with the @schandenfreudett/@ck_lunchbox family, and on our way home we realized that five minutes til midnight on New Year's Eve is the greatest time to be driving because A) no one else is and B) you can see fireworks for miles and miles.
We had this incredible 360 view of the fireworks going off in every community near us, and as we drove closer to home we could start to differentiate the ones coming from our neighborhood, then the ones coming from our side of the neighborhood, and as we neared the entrance to our sub-division, we realized that we pretty much could pinpoint the ones coming from one of the kids' friends houses.
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Sometimes I cannot believe the resiliency of my children, that they learn and re-learn people so openly and easily, how they are so easily adopted into the communities in which they live because they hold nothing back but instead burn, burn, burn like this time it's going to be forever.
There is quite a bit in this life I am only going to be able to learn from my children, I believe.
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My neighborhood is this amazingly balanced mix of people, of cultures, of nationalities and ethnicities and sometimes I get so used to seeing everyone that I forget to see everyone. We all share the commonality of parenthood, and that has a funny way of blinding us to everything else. I forget that every single kid at the bus stop is a different shade of human, because after a while they all just look like kids who want to eat my stash of good cookies.
Milano cookies are very bad at hide and go seek.
I stand on a corner with strangers, though no one can really be a stranger who's children you know, spending the first hours of this year under the bombtrack of roman candle warfare with people I suddenly regret I've resisted coming to know, watching our rainbow of children laugh and play under 1.3G rainbow of spiders exploding across the Texas stars.
Reader Comments (12)
It takes a village. And a fully equipped arsenal of incendiary devices.
God, that photo.
Agreed. It takes a village.
I want your neighbors, and you know why. Or even better, you for a neighbor. xoxo
You've thrust me into a sentimental mood. I just invited ten neighbors for dinner. Don't know whether to thank you or steal your whiskey.
Another beautiful post.
1) Totally. Yes to all of this.
2) Mmmm. Milanos.
3) Really beautifully written, as usual.
Neighborhoods are weird places. Do I show my true self to the people that I cannot escape if they either a: despise me or b: adore me and want to become my New Best Friend even though I kinda loathe them? Yeah. I've had "b" happen and it was tricky, to say the least. I like to take neighborhood friendships slow. You've had 2 years to see if their habits annoy you or vice versa. Now's a good time to start inviting people over for coffee that you may actually want to KNOW on a deeper level.
Happy New Year!
i guess i haven't read your blog in awhile because last time i was here, you lived in canada. hmm.
anyways...that pic is stunning as is the post that goes alongside it.
I've met your children exactly once and still remember their smiles quite well (especially one of three...he reminded me of the better parts of me. :)) I can see how and why they burn that way, apples, tree, etc.
I love you every day.
A couple years ago my mom and in laws came over for my 30th birthday. We'd only been living in our new house for 6 months. My mom parked on the side of the alley behind our house. Well, apparently that little patch of ground where my mom was parked belonged to a neighbor. Instead of just coming over and asking us to move the car, she screamed "Whose f*cking car is this??!" from across the alley at my husband who was standing on the porch. I went over to smooth things over and apologize only to be met with screaming, cussing, and insults (she referred to my mom, brother in law, and cousin who were there for my birthday as my "little friends", like I was some silly little teenager throwing a wild kegger). I burst into tears (it's what I do. Sue me.) because I was terrified she'd get the other neighbors to hate us. Luckily, everyone knows she's a psycho.
Good neighbors are a real blessing. Bad ones ruin your birthday.
i love the way you write. im glad you decided to publish today. and i agree that there are so many things I'll learn from my children too. I'm glad you had a moment to stop and consider, and to want to "see" more, too.
I just found your blog a week ago and have been reading the archives. I was up to either July or August 2008 and then, all of a sudden like two days ago, they were gone. No more archives?!? I guess I'll live not getting the back story on the rest of your life from late 2008 til now, but I'm definitely bummed. Not stalking you or anything, I just like to see things through.
So maybe put the archives back up for those of us who give a shit? Or don't, I'll keep reading either way because a. you make me laugh, and b. I'm a sucker for stories involving religious cults. Humor and fundamentalism, I can't resist 'em.