Team Up Thursdays Trio (TUTT) - Topic: July

I chose my topic because we are nearing the end of July and knowing what was coming up I thought I could use one of the other photo's we have taken during the course of the month ('that's cheating!' some might say, I call it managing priorities and getting everybody what they want).  We had a record week at South Shore Organics and I am still a little dazed.  I woke up this morning and lay in bed thinking, we DID IT!  But how?  A record number of deliveries and not one complaint - this week we delivered, AND we delivered! 

My theme, my photo first:

As it turns out, I didn't evey take this photo but, I did try.  We had a massive, nation-wide heatwave last week with the hottest recorded successive national temperatures in how ever many years.  Americans like to do that, they like to know that not only was it hot, but it was hasn't been hotter in ages - maybe they feel like they've lived through something, survived!  And it was hot, and humid.  When you walked outside the heat enveloped you and smothered you with a slimy film of sweat - it was like leaning into a hot oven to get the freshly baked cookies.  So we did try to fry an egg on the asphalt but I couldn't bear to do it at noon and when we tried at 4pm it was too late and although our yolk turned hard, the clear runny bit only turned hazy - it didn't actually 'cook'.  The weather has been excessive all round - a crazy snow-filled winter turned into tornadoes and heat waves!

Linda's photo was very clever and used a pictogram - see if you can figure it out . . .

I thought perhaps it was ice crystal (it IS winter there after all and they DO get a lot of frost).  But I got it wrong, you can't read pictorgrams backwards anyway, only left to right!  Did you have better luck than I?  The answer is at the end of my post if you're stumped but don't dare skip to the end - you will miss out . . .

Mariette's lovely post just captured what it is to be a mom.  All the love, and giving, second guessing, questioning and hoping and praying you are making the right decisions for your babies.  It emphasized for me that no matter where you are in the world, what your culture is or what difficulties your children are presented with, motherhood is the same and all we can do is our best and hope that it is enough and I think if our children feel loved, it will be.  Here is her pic of Maxine:

You look like we felt this last week little Maxine! 

So because I did cheat somewhat, here are some photo's that I DID take this week . . .

I want to spend more time photographing bubbles sometime with my special camera, this was just my point and shoot and I never knew it would be SO hard taking a photo of a bubble - they don't hold still! 

July also means an annual picnic to the island in Cohasset harbour with Bill's family.  It is always a fun day.  Finally, and this is a fitting end . . . I took this picture on my way home yesterday and it was too late to submit to the ladies for this week but it probably would have been my choice.  I don't know these people, but it looked so romantic and intimate don't you think?  How nice to bring a couple of chairs, a bottle of wine and just 'be' . . . this photo makes me want to sigh.

That's it, next week we will be sure to get things moving.

Answer to the pictogram (backwards - like I read it):  !adniL eno dooG  ?ti teg - yluJ ro eye-leweJ

Team up Thursdays Trio (TUTT) - Topic: Toys

Well, this is my first week participating in the trio and it is nice to be sharing the topic with team mates again!  This was Mariette's choice, so we will start with her picture:

This is of Maxine's (Mariette's daughter) little sister Myrrill, who goes EVERYWHERE with them. Maxine always refers to her as 'her little sister', which Mariette has needed to clarify on several occasions!   This particular picture has Trev's toys in the background...his RC cars!  Where are your toys Mariette?

Next in the trio is Linda with her pic of Google…he was Kayla-Fern’s birthday present from Linda's mom and dad last year – which means in a few days (Kayla-Fern has been counting) Google will be a year old and Kayla-Fern will be ten - two kids in the double digits Linda!  How does it feel?

I love both pics ladies, well done!  I outsourced mine, this week was no less busy than the others so I told the kids to build the word out of their toys - we had a few attempts which lead to this for Ryan:

Very clever don't you think?  Nerf bullets, a metal detector, a jet and a some trains.  April had a go too:

A bubble wand, flute, doggies, barbie and a skipping rope - how girlie don't you think?  And could somebody please tell me why ANYBODY would put a WHITE carpet in a kids room????  Sorry, I digressed but I honestly can't stand it.  This lead the kids on another mission:

What's that?  Oh, it is this . . .

Which becomes this . . . .

Which evolves into this . . .

This was April's project - clever don't you think?  They also wanted to build a toy store out of Lego but got eventually bored and moved onto arguing with each other which is the favorite past time these days.  Does anybody else have that problem?  What happened to my sweet, easy going kids who loved each others company?  One of these days I will turn the hose on them I swear!

Did you realize that none of us ladies posted about our own toys?  Do women have toys?  Wait - let me rephrase that!  Do we have recreational . . . . um, I mean, what do we do for fun?  You know what?  There is no safe comeback!  WHAT I MEAN IS why don't women take 'down time' as easily as men do?  Why don't we play as hard as we work?  I think it is changing, but I still so many of our 'fun' activities and hobbies are centered around our home and family.  Scrapbooking, sewing, decorating, crafts - whatever.  I wouldn't say that we don't take time for ourselves, but if you took a woman's husband and children away, gave her a thousand dollars and said 'go play' - would she know what to do?  Many men I know wouldn't hesitate, they'd probably have a hard time deciding from a list!  Many women I know would have to think about it and would probably find it hard to just go and blow a self-indulgent $1,000 without at least several internal debates, a healthy dose of guilt and perhaps a phone call to a girlfriend for advice!  Don't get me wrong, we do not feel hard done by, do we ladies?  I don't feel begrudged.  But perhaps we should have 'my toys' as a topic one week with a promise to keep it clean to force us to think about (or find something) that we do for ourselves that IS self-indulgent and dripping in joy!

Through the Eyes of Just Me . . . for now, Topic: Arbitrary

I was driving in the car with my son the other day and he says 'mom, what does arbitrary mean?'  Um, it means not really related to anything else, like, by chance, not expected.  I just looked it up and it apparently it actually means determined by chance, whim, or impulse, and not by necessity, reason, or principle.  Isn't that a GREAT theme for a photo blog?  On a whim, for no reason or principal and just because . . .

That same day it happened to be a super-hot-super-duper-humid-only-on-the-south-shore-can-it-be-this-oppressive kind of day and although I generally avoid McDonald's, an M&M Sundae was not only desired but deemed absolutely necessary to the overall well being of both driver and passengers.  I ordered three at the drive-thru and pulled up to pay at the window and on a whim happened to glance down, I never glance down - what would you glance down for? This is what I saw . . .

Whoops?  Did somebody drop their wallet I asked the cashier.  No, he said, people just drop their change on the floor - especially if it is pennies, they can't be bothered.  Somebody will be by to sweep it up.  Of course, I had to halt the line to take a photo, I told him people back home will not believe me if I just tell this story, I need evidence and why doesn't McDonald's collect all dropped change and donate to it a hunger cause or something?  He shrugged, "Ma'am, will there be anything else?" which I think is cashier speak for 'listen lady, you are a little cooky and I am not sure about you, besides you are holding up the line to photograph 'sweeping change' so I would appreciate it if you would just move right along'. 

So speaking of arbitrary and change, I had a little fun with the photo, here is the McDonald's version:

That's about as eggs and tomato sauce (ketchup) as I could get it and for those of you who don't know me, that means yellow and red.  Money with no value is a sign we live in an affluent country I guess, but it is kinda sad so I made a blue one:

I think this might be my favorite because the pennies stand out so much.  So, what other color can I try?

What happens to those pennies, dimes and quarters?  Don't you think my suggestion is a good one?  I wonder if you could make a living stalking McDonald drive-thru's collecting change?  Maybe I could get them to pay me to keep their drive-thru clean!  Now there is a win-win, as in I win and I win again.  That reminds me of the Bee Gee's 'You Win Again' song which makes me think of my mom, she loves the Bee Gees.  Now how's THAT for arbitrary? 

Seriously though, that 'sweeping change' if collected from the thousands (hundreds of thousands?) McDonald's drive-thru's could make a significant change, a sweeping change to those less fortunate!  I may have to write a letter.  Pa-da-pa-pa-paaaaaaa - I'm lovin' it!

That's it from me this week.  Heids got in touch, begged forgiveness and asked for a respite which is fine by me, I was just worried about her.  Mariette and Linda, I would LOVE to join you for the interim, and since I can't darn well post replies either, it won't let me, here are my messages too:

Linda - dear sister-in law, loved your emails this week.  We had a bumper week so couldn't reply but maybe over the weekend.  Hazel did remind me about your birthday today, I hope it is a happy one - you deserve it and 43 is just a NUMBER.

Mariette - I was very touched that you emailed Linda to include me, it just validates what Linda always says about you being a sweet, kind person.  And also, I could completely relate to you as a mom when you wrote about Maxine, and here's unsolicited food for thought from a complete stranger who knows nothing:  I get so frustrated with 'normal' schools boxing our children in, they have narrow parameters and kids must stay in the lines and not cause any ripples to be considered 'good kids' and those that do well in that environment are even 'great kids' and I sometimes wonder if we are teaching our children how to become average, mediocre adults.  Students who rock the boat, make waves and challenge superiors to think differently (I mean constructively, not destructively) are labelled 'difficult'.  Are we clipping the wings of future visionaries?  That being said, 'special schools' have a much more interesting salad when it comes to students, having your daughter attend a school where she has a greater chance that individuality will be celebrated and she will meet a greater diversity of people could be good for her.  If you could choose a class where 30 kids are given the same picture to color in and they would all pass if they produced similar results, or a class where children were given a blank piece of paper and wax crayons, pencils and paints and only a theme and they could create their own masterpiece, which would you choose?  I know it is not that simple, and there are other things in her future that need to be considered and this is a big decision but it is also an opportunity for you to pick a place for Maxine to flourish.  'Normal' may mean life is easier, but it is also less noteworthy. 

Through the Eyes of Sisters, Topic: Red, White & Blue

This is week 15, I chose the topic, Heids doesn't even know what it is.  I am not taking her rejection very well to be honest, I don't buy the 'time' thing because I have two children at home on summer vacation, plus I am running a VERY demanding business from home with lots of time sensitive deadlines each week and over and above the daily requirements for that business, I also have to invest time in looking for premises and solutions to some of the operational challenges we are facing and the housework and laundry looms constantly so I am busy too, busier than I have ever been. The thing I loved about doing this with her is sharing - showing her my world and learning about hers and I feel very sad that I don't have a window into her world anymore.  Facebook is not the same, quirky comments don't replace meaningful blogs with photos of her home town, and my nieces, and her life.  So, without a confirmation from her that she wants to continue Through the Eyes of Sisters, this will be my last blog - it feels stupid to do it without a partner.

Now that my gripe is out of the way, I chose this topic because it is 4th of July over here, and the topic can loosely be translated into just one word here in America: Pride.  I know the level of patriotism gets up some peoples noses, but I come from South Africa, where diversity also means division and I am not getting political and talking about Apartheid, I am just stating a fact.  There is such a huge divide between the middle and lower class in terms of wealth, and with 11 national languages and around 30 spoken languages, everybody wants to celebrate their own culture and heritage which is totally understandable.  However, you have to look for common ground - and there is plenty - in order to be on the same page and I think people are afraid.  If they let go, if they accept that they are all more alike than different, they will be giving up their identity, accepting that their problems are not that different from everybody else's, they will be lost in massive pot of bubbling muddy soup and, I think, lose hope.  By fighting to hold on to their individuality they are saying they are different, things will be different for them.  People when they hear about South Africa think of 'black' vs 'white', when I think of the country that was home to me for so many years I think of how diverse it is culturally, post apartheid the black and white issues have receded and now instead of two fractions pulling against each other, there are eleven national ones and 30 spoken ones or so it seems.  I suppose it stems from pride too in a way.

Lady Liberty and Uncle Sam ride in style!

It is very hard to convey the emotion of this holiday, how sweeping and all encompassing it is.  Last year I was in Florida with Marilize, my dear South African friend, for the 4th of July and she could experience it for herself and I think understood why it is my favorite holiday on the American calendar.  This year as I sat on the lawn watching the 4th of July parade - the second oldest parade in the nation right here in our own home town, I looked around and realized 1'400 miles from Florida and the experience is the same.  Just about everybody was wearing red, white and blue, waving the country's flag, cheering on the town servicemen - the police and firemen in highly polished vehicles, a source of pride - everybody united in the celebration.   

Duxbury's Finest Lead the Way

The U.S. has problems and people feel differently about them and belong to different political parties but here they all are together, proud.  It is joyful and euphoric.  I wish there was an event on South Africa's calendar that brought everybody peacefully into the street to celebrate their country, that inspired them to wear the flag, wave it proudly, and all agree that despite their differences, they love their country.  Because they do love their country, everybody has fought hard for it in one way or another.  The only time they all get on that page is when they really achieve something monumental, like hosting and winning the Rugby World Cup, or most recently hosting the Soccer World Cup. 

2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa

Then everybody is in the streets, there is joy and pride in their hearts and they wave the flag high. 

Elvis Presley - America the Beautiful

I think because it is such a loaded topic for me, I cry every year at the parade.  Not a silent tear, and not hysterical bawling, but for the entire length of the parade I am wiping tears off my cheeks and avoiding eye contact with family or friends so we can all safely pretend I am not crying.  I am overwhelmed with emotion as the floats drive by celebrating music, pop culture and history, with families and friends standing on the floats, older people and little children wearing their red white and blue and happily waving and throwing candy and for the public, I love getting lost in that moment. 

Proud girls from a local riding club participate in the parade on their well behaved and beloved ponies

I can't help but feel the contrast between my two countries, South Africa has so much to offer, so much potential but she can't get it together, together being the operative word.  The dream is of a rainbow nation, a multi-cultural multi-colored nation where each individual color shines brightly, is equally beautiful and side by side they all form a hopeful rainbow.  The rainbow would be incomplete without any one of the colors, and together all the colors represent harmonious balance.  The reality is that the colors are arguing over which is the most important, most beautiful, which color should be on top and which color should be next to which color, and they don't want some colors to shine at all and the result?  Paradoxically, a muddy soup.  There is no rainbow, there is no harmony, there is no Independence Day parade, there is no pride and it's a crying shame.

Through the Eyes of ONLY ONE Sister, Topic: Perspective

Well, how's that for a loaded topic?  Heidi chose it, of course it is a lovely topic to photograph, lines, height, horizons, buildings, trees, low photos, high photos - the options are endless.  Instead of going there, I went here:

So, are you a glass half empty or glass half full person?  And when life hands you a lemon, can you, do you, will you make lemonade?  These cliched little one liners are supposed to inspire us to take a different view on things, look for the silver lining, seek out the good in terrible situations, a light at the end of the tunnel, a reason to go on.  My sister-in-law wrote in her blog (I Believe . . .) this week about Alison, a young woman in South Africa who faced unimaginable circumstances and overcame them.  According to Alison, happiness is a choice.  Life is a choice.  You can choose a glass half full of lemonade. 

Personally, I have had such a tough week that I am overwhelmed by the darkness, the light at the end of the tunnel is a flickering one and it is only a teeny tiny pinprick.  I don't know if I can get to that light, and if I do will be a blazing inferno, or just a vulnerable little candle.  Would it have been worth the effort?  That's the thing about doubt, it is the color of darkness.  It blocks out the light so that you can't see, it entombs you in a cocoon of uncertainty. 

This is why rose colored glasses are important, everybody should have a pair I think and if you don't have some, you need to get you some.  They make the darkness look all pink like candyfloss, and they magnify the light - they make the overwhelming seem achievable, and then the overwhelming becomes achievable. 

Rose colored glasses are not cheap, you need to have a healthy balance of faith, confidence and conviction to pay for them, and a little arrogance wouldn't hurt, but if you have rose colored glasses, you will definitely see lemonade.

Sometimes though, just sometimes, perhaps its prudent to be intelligent enough to throw all these cliches out the door and look down, realize you are holding a nearly empty glass of sour stuff, chuck it out and choose to get something else to drink!

How's that for cheesy?  ;-)