Domesticity and Casey Parks
What adventures are we having this week? The adventure of daily life. While our former boarder, Casey Parks*, is slogging through jungles and investigating AIDS in Africa with Nick Kristof (look up her blogs and video pieces by going to the New York Times Online, www.nytimes.com, and signing up for the New York Times "Select" - I signed up for the free 14 day trial period), we are changing diapers, going to Parent Night at Sender's Montessori school, trying to get to church on time, and generally delighting in the everyday wonders of life with an infant.
Alexander started crawling, and wow do we have some work to do around this house! Computer cords! Outlets! Tall lamps! Oh my! And he's so delighted with his new mobility. The dogs, while delighted with the new showering of "Oatios" around the house, are also finding the crawling towards them of this formerly stationary creature a wee bit frightening. The object, as they see it, is to get the fallen oatios without getting an ear or a handful of fur grabbed by the unrelenting fist of baby. (Oatios are a heathfood store version of Cheerios. My computer's spell-check wants me to change it to "Patios")
The mornings have been wonderfully cool so I think it's time to start doing some more painting on location in town and up in the Delta. Any requests? I'm loving the visual experience of driving down Mill Street in the mornings on my way to take Sender to school. The morning light coming from the East hits the many lines of freight trains on the West side of the street, bound north and south. The reds, yellows, blues of the painted and rusting cars, the deep green of growth all around just because it's Mississippi, line after line of parallel tracks, and Alexander singing from the car seat. It's something out of a dream.
I would have never seen my life this way. The other mother of a fabulous kid, living two miles from my Mama and three houses from one of my brothers and his family, walking with the stroller to church, baking banana bread while Denise and Alexander sit at the piano, banging on keys and singing their hearts out. Wow. Our life is so domestic. Why do some find us so threatening? I don't get it.
Hope to see you all at the Attic Gallery's 35th anniversary show!
* Casey Parks graduated from Millsaps College here in May of 2005. She moved into our refinished attic space to continue working as assistant editor of the Jackson Free Press and apply to graduate school in journalism. Casey's parents are our age and we felt very parental towards her, trying out feeling protective, proud, worried about her decisions, etc. as practice for Sender. She lived with us for 9 months, basically Alexander's entire gestation, before starting grad school. Casey then entered an essay, along with 3,800 other contestants, to try to win a two week trip to Africa with Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times. Casey won - no surprise to us - and is there now for a few more days. We are extremely proud of her.
