Right now I am watching a mother play with her little girl. I am on a plane flying someplace I’ve already been and leaving behind the people with whom I’d rather be. Right now. The little girl is tired. She has been drinking her bottle in spurts. She alternates with a soggy wafer. Her first bites of solid food. She is restless, but she has smiles for everyone around her. Mom wipes away the soggy crumbs from baby’s chubby pink cheeks. They are enjoying the opportunity to play. Right now.
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Dillon resigned as my illustrator the other day. He said he was retiring, getting out of the game… or something like that. He’d gone through about 5 pages of illustrations, and the mood suddenly left him. He was tired of carrying the weight of the team…now I’ll have to farm it out somehow. It’s a shame, because they were good pictures too… he translated the activities in the story perfectly and caught the main focus in each section with his renderings. Where am I going to find another illustrator that can bring my words to life like he did? and one who will work for snickerdoodles and pez? Dang child labor laws. Alas, another talent burnt out at an early age.
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It seems like there are events in life that are triggered by the most random catalysts. The impacts are subtle. So much so that in the midst of the event and in the early aftermath you aren’t quite sure what just happened… but you know there is a difference outside of the obvious change that took place. I can always identify them in retrospect, but I am rarely able to see them coming. Read more…
We inched into the parking lot…my head on a swivel… eyes constantly searching for the white gleam of a reverse light, or the tell-tale signals of a parent approaching his or her vehicle in preparations to leave – the hurried walk, head down or glancing at a timepiece; the jingling of the keys; the bewildered stare, mouth agape, searching for the sedan in the sea of SUVs. The parking lot was crowded. Like the mall on Christmas eve crowded (maybe not in THIS economy, but like it used to be). Crowds of parents and students and siblings poured in from across the streets as many were turned away and were forced to park in the adjacent neighborhoods. I inched further along. Jaden and Dillon were nattily dressed in their 1st Day of 1st Grade clothes, and Ethan was in his favorite little brother attire: Small Paul Monkey print T-shirt and cargo shorts. A mini-van inched back. Victory! Read more…
There was a time when I could go to the store, get what I need, and get back in the same amount of time it takes us to corral all the kids and get them in the car today. Everything was hassle free – errands, dinners out, movies, travel – I had more time in the day than I knew how to fill. I hate that time. I don’t miss a second of it. But it will be back… shortly…and it looms hauntingly in the back of my mind. Read more…
