Strength in Numbers, Strength in Strength

Yellow elephants stand at the ready.  They are strong and sturdy.  Their trunks are raised and lowered.  Ringing the muddy lot next to the bypass around Danville, the yellow elephants have babies.  The bigger ones tower over the smaller ones.  Mouths agape, the yellow metal creatures seem to be frozen in mid sentence.  Side by side they stand spreading the rumor of their strength around the line, encouraging even the weakest to be strong.  A graphic demonstration of strength in numbers, they stand together.  All of us are more than one of us and none of us can stand alone.  The machine elephants wait for someone to crank their engines to make them demonstrate their strength.  Humans don't have to wait.  People all over the country are gaping their mouths to demonstrate their communal strength.  Like the yellow elephants, they are finding strength in numbers and are ready to crank it up and do the work at hand.

Sites and Sounds Across Pittsylvania County, VA: Llamas Lay on the Hay

Sites and Sounds Across Pittsylvania County, VA: Llamas Lay on the Hay

Nature's Fireworks in December

Streaks of light fill the sky in Pittsylvania County on 12-13-14.  

Bundled up and waiting anxiously for the universe's show tonight,  the trek to the bottom of the yard was like a safari.  Anticipating the bright light show was half the fun.  Hot chocolate to warm us,  blankets to wall out the chill air, we made our way to the new red  chairs at the garden, now still from the frost.  

Excitement is not far away.  Barely in our seats and the show begins.  Right  over our dear departed neighbor's house, the burning meteor flew to the  earth.  Shouts of "ooh, there's one, at 3 o'clock!" and, "did you see that one over the cedar tree?" echo into the yard. Wondering if the neighbors could hear us, our voices dropped to whispers, like the silence of the falling stars we watched.

Barely visible, nearly imagined beams of long forgotten matter fall to earth whether we saw it or not.  Straining our aging eyes to find the joy we found watching this same shower of space debris while awaiting the birth of  our first child; we reminisce. Doughnuts and coffee were the fair of that night.   We have no doughnuts tonight, nor pregnant belly, only continuity of years together, just as the stars.

The universe expands before us as we contemplate the ancients who sat just  like us staring into the dark abyss of the sky. Wonder comes in many ways and stays for many days. Hold onto wonder. Hold onto cold, clear nights with stars so bright.  

Hold onto the joy of life that exists in your backyard in Pittyslvania County, Virginia, or, where ever you may be on this plant we call Earth.

Good People in Chatham

Laundromats are a great place to people watch.  This communal method of washing clothes has actually been a custom for a long time: from the days of carrying the kettle to the creek, making a fire to heat the water, and stringing the clothes through the trees till today. Another tradition of laundry mat day is bringing the small children who are not yet school age. This can be a challenge.

Over the years, I have noticed many parents' behaviors there. Children's behaviors are fairly predictable in this situation.  They are bored.  Sometimes they are sick. We still have to take them with us to do the laundry.  Many mothers take the tactic of chair squatting.  They expect those little people to sit in a chair and be quiet while they go about life's work of washing the family's clothes.  Some parents bring a toy for their child.  Some read to them. Some get loud and angry about what they expect.

Today in quaint Chatham,  Virginia here in the heart of Pittsylvania County, I saw the rare man.  The rarest of men: one doing the laundry with a child in tow. Not only was he tending the machines, he was also tending the child.  When the little boy cried, he picked him up to soothe him.  After the trauma passed, he put him down and followed him around the washers.  As he followed he talked to the child about what they were doing.  He clapped for the child as the small boy toddled along.  When the child fell on the floor, he wiped his hands, and told him this is what he was doing.

GREAT STUFF!

As I stepped up to the dryer, he shared with me which dryers seemed to be in good working order.  I told him he got an "A" today for his handling of the little boy.  He gave me a high five.

Yes, Virginia, there are good men here. Good men at the laundromat in Chatham, Virginia.

Play Date for the Turkey Vultures

The vultures are playing in the air today.  Warm currents carry their light bodies through the air as they float on the rising air nature presented for their amusement.  Circling round and round as if on a synchronized spiral, tens of Turkey Vultures drift quietly and calmly through the Chatham sky.  On further investigation, this "kettle" of vultures appears to be amusing themselves.  My eyes burn from trying not to blink as I watch for the first flap of wings.  I watch one floating bird come from the kettle, never once making any effort to further it's flight, land on a branch and then and only then did it flap.  Like the dog with dirt on its back, the vulture seemed to be shaking off the stiffness from holding out its wings.  Their flight looks so playful, so effortless, I wish I could join in the fun.  I, however, remain on my perch on the street in Chatham, grounded for life.  Vultures are totally ungrounded.  Look up and you'll see freedom in flight.