Category: Alphabet Magic

I found this odd little installation in the powder room.
If I thought about it longer, maybe I could decipher the message.

One little cloud caught the last rays of the sunset after its neighbors had gone grey. It was a brilliant orange that quickly faded into the background.

In May, we came out of our hyper-cautious shell and started doing indoor activities like shopping with the kids. On my birthday, they insisted on getting a stuffie at IKEA even though my wife isn’t fond of these dust bunnies. She also insisted on having this little gal cool off for a few weeks. We finally brought her in in June.

At first the boy wanted to call her “Claire Elephant” because he’s obsessed naming everything after his imaginary little sister Claire. He then proposed “Smalley”. Mama countered with “Mini”. After some debate, Mini won.

That evening they misplaced her in the messy playroom and we spent half an hour looking for her. When she woke up the next day, my daughter was not amused when she couldn’t find Mini in her safe place (because I borrowed her for the sketch).

~

This moment of magic was inspired by recent newsletter, where Emily Charlotte Powell shares her in-progress drawing of a mermaid-yet-to-be-named.

My sister and I toyed with this PortaSound PSS-460 as kids.
The kids now dance to the drum kit (max volume!)

In between, it sat in our empty house;
While we stayed with parents when he was born.

A squatter took over one Thanksgiving —
A young blond woman with a ponytail.

She quietly left with her black backpack.
I found the keyboard on a dresser, plugged in.

I occasionally wonder about her,
Plinking tunes on this toy Yamaha over a cold, dark holiday.

~

This memory of everyday magic was sparked by a beautiful poem and rendition by Nadia Gerassimenko.

The kids were intrigued by the lychee shells that mama peeled for an after dinner snack. We filled up a bowl to float little pink boats. A miniature ocean for little folks.

Bear-Bear took a nap in a cozy bed of stuffed slippers with arctic seals and bears in overalls. They novelties came from our cousin in China when they were roped into an ill-fated retail venture. It’s not great to find shoes on your bed (I suspect the boy), but it’s impossible to get peeved over this!

As she was heading to bedtime, the girl handed me Daddy Bear.
In the morning I found him on the floor next to my bed.
I tucked him back in bed for extra rest before starting my morning.

A desert tigress crouching for prey in the overgrown lawn.

“They created a wasteland and called it peace” – Calgacus

The kids caped up and whirled to programmed songs on the keyboard. After she was dragged off to study Chinese, he ran around the house as a ghost. The beanie-veil combo is a fresh innovation in our house.

My parents dropped by our place in the morning to give the kids polished stones from a roadside stand on the way to the Grand Canyon. After they left, the girl sorted the collection before coming inside for breakfast.