Thursday, May 28, 2009

Slow or Fast?

They're digging up the street near my house, and for a block there's only one lane of traffic at a time. The workman holds up a sign that says STOP to the traffic going to and SLOW to the traffic going fro.

I understand STOP. But I'm confused when the sign says SLOW and the sign-bearer is whirling his arm frantically to get me to go fast.

Home Again

I've just returned from a two-week trip to Ohio. We had a very enjoyable time, visiting with several friends and relatives. We talked and talked and then moved on, shifting to another group, another branch of the family, another life-style. It was emotionally and physically intense, and we were never alone.

Now during my first day at home, I'm cocooned with myself, silent, recovering in blessed solitude

Monday, May 11, 2009

Another Kind of Mothering

Thinking about Mothers' Day yesterday led me to realize that although my kids have been away from home for more than 20 years, and my kids and grand kids don't live nearby, I've recently begun another kind of mothering. It's like this:

I'm now the Street Steward Coordinator for our neighborhood emergency preparedness committee. That's a mouthful, and more simply means that I'm looking after the people in each neighborhood who have agreed to meet with their neighbors and give them information about emergency preparedness. The job includes keeping in touch, teaching, supporting, answering questions, reminding, facilitating, encouraging, thanking --- all the things that mothers do.

In turn, I'm meeting new people and performing a support function that will help everyone in case we experience an emergency; earthquakes and wild fires are our most likely dangers. We hope we'll never need to implement our emergency plans, but if we do, we know that the outcome will be better than if we had not prepared. And we're learning that there's an immediate benefit, too: community building. Neighbors are meeting long-time neighbors for the first time and forming new bonds: neighbors helping neighbors. I might even begin to use the verb "to neighbor".

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Other Mothers' Days

One Mother's Day when my son was elementary school, I spent Mothers' Day morning with him in the parking lot of the medical center, waiting for the doctor to arrive. My son had an ear infection. It was not serious, but he needed an antibiotic. But what seemed like a boring wait in the car turned out to have unexpected consequences. The next day, the police phoned and asked if I'd been at the medical center on Sunday morning. "Yes," I said.

It turned out that while we'd been sitting in the car, the medical center had been robbed of drugs. The police looked at all the appointment books to find people who might have seen the robbery, and although I hadn't realized it at the time, we had been witnesses. I recalled a beat-up car driving away from the medical center at a high speed and was able to give a partial description. I don't know one make of car from another, and thought my son might know, but he was too shy to talk with the police. The police asked if I was willing to be hypnotized to see if I could recall a license number or more details. That sounded like an interesting experience, and I agreed. But I never heard anything more about the case. It only remains in my mind as a memorable Mothers' Day.

The second memorable Mothers' Day was one I spent all alone. The kids were grown up by then, and I was in Cincinnati by myself, doing some genealogical research. I got up on Sunday morning, had breakfast in the hotel, then went to church where I heard the Bishop preach. After a nice lunch, I walked over to Riverfront Stadium and watched a baseball game. Several dad's with young children were sitting nearby, obviously giving Mom a day off at home. The guys were interested in the game, but one poor little girl had no idea what was going on and didn't know what to do with herself. So I talked with her and pointed out things she could look for on the playing field. That helped, but I faulted her dad for not paying more attention to her and helping her understand the game.