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I've added to the way I do some of these stitches. The added texture feels good under my fingertips. It feels like a piece to meditate with, to say meta with, to ponder with.
🪶
The note in the above book "A Rose, A Bridge and A Wild Black Horse" was written by my son, for my daughter. I'm 100% sure it was done at my suggestion, as we very often wrote notes in gifted books in my family. There are many notes from my mom and me too. This is the singular signature from sibling to sibling. The words are his alone. I remember my surprised delight at his birthday rhyme! It is another Charlotte Zolotow book. So many of the books of hers that we had were ruined in the shed flood.
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Flood Story
Many years ago, prior to 2011, while I was working up North and J. was working a graveyard shift...maybe in 2005, which was an El Nino year of much rain...way back then we had a shed. It lived in the very rear of the 'back 40' of our old place and stared all sorts of things. It held numerous empty boxes. The kind you want to throw away, but keep "just in case" the original item needs to go for servicing or be returned. It held belongings not in use, but saved. It held lots of his books and a big plastic tub of mine too. The big tub of books were all of the childhood paperback books I still had, but did not have room for in the house.
Anyway, late one night, after my long commute, I came home in the pouring, pouring rain. As I circled around on the wet dirt of the back 40 in preparation for parking on the asphalt by the garage, my headlights flashed on the shed. It had ripped loose from the plywood base and was completely tipped back, the front door section raised 2+ feet off the ground. It was still attached at the back, but the sides were lifting as well.
The wind was whipping through the yard and rain thrashed against the flimsy metal shed.
What could I do?
Well, what I did do was run in the house and put on some boots, tuck my pants into them and run out back. My flawed logic was that I could merely use my weight on the door jam piece (the doors were slid open already) to push it back down into place, while pulling downward from the top frame of the door. Once I did this, I would just put some of the heavy boxes on the metal door jam piece to hold it down...that's what I thought! 😁
It is probably obvious to you, the reader, that this was a foolhardy plan. And it was. As soon as I got in the doorway and tried it, I discovered all of the pouring rain ran right down my back and into my pants! It was sooooo cold!
So, I had to think, think, think...what else could I do? There I was, after 8PM, pounding rain, driving wind...cold...trying to come up with a new plan.
What if I get something long, something tall...something to place at the back of the shed to push it back down from the top, while the base of the something tall braced against the base of the chainlink fence back there (picture a triangle).
⬛️ ◣↖
So, I ran back across the yard and got the 10 foot ladder, dragging it back to the fence side of the shed. Total failure. Total. I could not get it into the best position possible and could not apply the pressure in the place that would be effective.
After trying for several minutes, I gave up and went back in the house. It was about 9PM and my commute/workday had started at 6:20AM. I was Done.
When the rain had stopped, we discovered much was lost to the storm. Any cardboard box, all of J's books and many other items. It was all trashed. Several weeks later, I discovered that the large plastic tub holding the children's paperback books had a hairline crack that I had not noticed earlier. Upon opening it I was overcome by the smell of mildew, black mold and wet, ruined paper.
It was so sad. I was so sad to loose all of those beloved books.
THE END
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I read this book repeatedly to my very young son while living in NV.
I fell in love with the verse above, not because of the religious component, but for the humanity of caring for those who may not be able to care for themselves. The illustration for this page in particular did not speak to me as well. However, I find it so interesting how we pull what we want, need, desire and so on from what we read, hear or view...how we absorb that and make it our own. That's what I did with this blessing.
So, young mommy me, wrote out this prayer by drawing the small X's on a piece of muslin and a few iron on designs for the flowers, bird and butterfly...and stitched it into being...stitched in my love for my baby son and my new life in a new state. It was nesting at its best. It hung framed in his room or mine for many years. Now, what to do with it?
A Child's Goodnight Book
I looked for a reading of this book on You Tube and had to be satisfied with this version.
YOU TUBE READING
🦜 🐇 🐟 🐑
May you embrace your failures as great stories down the road
May you thrive in many kinds of storms
May you always shine
xo
Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2023
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