Sunday, October 10, 2010

On the Road Again . . .

The Kay has been busy with assorted nonsense -- my days have been consumed with bureaucratic baloney, trying to organize some things, politics, and packing. I am heading up to Toledo on Tuesday to visit my stepmother. I always enjoy my trips to the city I call home. I play cards with Barb and her buddies and take her shopping, etc. because she doesn't drive anymore. One thing she always wants to do is visit my dad's grave. I'm not into that much because I think Dad is somewhere else -- only his bones are there. Still, I say a prayer and I think he knows we're there and glad to see us.

The best part is wandering the neighborhood where I grew up. I don't think I appreciated how extraordinary it was in my youth. I did enjoy being able to ride my bike anywhere safely and visit my friends safely. It's weird because it still feels like home despite my being away from there for decades. What really strikes me as weird is driving by our house. There were probably a dozen and a half houses on our block and living in those homes were probably 75 kids -- most of whom were always outside playing whatever the season -- often in the street. Today that doesn't appear to happen and I rarely see a soul when I visit and that makes me sad. We lived in the middle of the block and our house was often the site of games like tag or hide and seek after dark in which my dad often participated along with 20 or 30 kids. We mostly got along because we were taught to play well with others and bullying was huge no-no. It was a nice place to grow up and I appreciate that I had that blessing.

Here's a prayer that I think is very timely for our world today. A tip of my Thinking Cap to Blue Gal for reminding me of it.

A Franciscan Benediction

May God bless you with discomfort
At easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships
So that you may live deep within your heart.
May God bless you with anger
At injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people,
So that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace.
May God bless you with tears
To shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger and war,
So that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and
To turn their pain into joy.
And may God bless you with enough foolishness
To believe that you can make a difference in the world,
So that you can do what others claim cannot be done
To bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.

Amen


I'm going to put up a few things I've gathered so I won't be totally absent here. I'll be back on Friday or Saturday. Here's the song for this week!!!!



Hope y'all are having a great day!!!! AND don't forget that you can go to your local Board of Elections and vote early if you wish.

Happy Blogging!!!!!

Kay

4 comments:

  1. Yes, the world has changed a lot or our world anyway. I remember as a kid going with my brother and cousins to a Portland park called Peninsula where we'd play hide and seek among the rose bushes after dark. I cannot even imagine children safely doing that today and what did we have for our guardians while we ran around in the dark-- our two mothers who were both attractive ladies. Maybe there are towns that's still safe but it seems even the smallest towns end up with perverts and maybe we were just lucky back then.

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  2. Anonymous7:18 PM

    Personally, I think there are several reasons why we have the illusion that it was safer in our neighborhoods during the 1950s (for me) and whatever decade encompassed your pre-teen and teen years. I do not for one minute think it was safer. I lived in a "safe" neighborhood of Kansas City MO, but I distinctly recall several times when men (one, a very old man who lived catty-corner across the street from us) tried to lure me into indecencies.

    Too, I think that since (WIWAK - when I was a kid) kids were still dying of somewhat common diseases, our parents were not so risk averse to our doing other "dangerous" things. By comparison, the things that we did were not judged to be so dangerous.

    Although I am an atheist, I still visit graves of my relatives every few years - mostly to see that the markers and grounds are in good condition. (My relatives, including a brother and a sister - neither of which lived to see his/her first birthday - are scattered about in at least six cemetaries in southwestern Missouri, so it takes some driving to hit them all.)
    Cop Car

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  3. That was one of my fond memories as a kid, riding my bike anywhere and everywhere, never fearing anything might happen to me.. other than being hit by a car. Can we do that today??

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  4. You had a childhood that seems no longer possible in most areas. Do you think it is still so there? Lovely to be raised in a tribe of children, outdoors, with certain freedoms.

    Enjoy your trip.

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