Facebook

it's a love hate relationship with me. The postings are so meaningless and yet. . . from time to time there is a gem. You tell me something real- that is me and all your other friends.I'd prefer you called but we just don't have that kind of a connection but I do like to keep up with you, really I do. The thing I find so amazing and can never figure out how to share with other people is the range of Facebook friends I have.

Down the alley way from the house my family moved into when I was a teen was a young family with two kids. The mom was pregnant with a third and later went on to have a fourth. I was the eldest daughter in a large family and well experienced in child care. I babysat for them. I loved to spend my Friday nights at their home. The house was clean and well ordered and there were yummy treats. The kids were bathed and I just had to put the older boy to bed and the evening was mine.

The little girl was almost always asleep and what a beautiful little girl she was. I used to stand and watch her sleep, her silky curls on her pillow, her lightly tanned cheeks flushed and rosy. I could imagine being mother to a daughter like her with a beautiful well ordered home like that-so unlike my own home just a few steps away. I grew up and moved away and had two sons,the most wonderful caring intelligent sons. My house has never been well-ordered but it has been a happy life.

My kids grew up far from my family and the idea of leaving them with a neighbourhood teen in charge every Friday night didn't occur to me but eventually a day came when we parents needed to get out, and so we asked among our friends and found a teenaged girl well experinced in the care of young lads. She didn't come often but when she did I was so grateful! Time passed she grew up and we forgot about her but as fate would have it- and the fact that this largish town is just like that- I am now working with her. This lovely woman with two children of her own and she is my Facebook friend!

Through my younger sister I have also been in touch with the little girl I babysat for every Friday through 1963 to 1967 and SHE is my Facebook friend also! As I wade through the meaningless and the pointless posts I see updates from both of these women and I am amazed at the ground that Facebook allows me to cover from my teens through my mommy days and on until today and I am grateful for the pearls I find along the way.

Dear Neighbour,

I'm breaking up with you. I know it's been awhile and perhaps you thought I wasn't paying attention but I was. Really the problem is my lawn and your dog - it's toxic. So, gather up your shit and don't come back.

Autumn Leaves

The words have been running through my tuneless mind. I had to stop raking the leaves, come into the house and listen. I hope you enjoy Paula Cole.
If not, perhaps Eric Clapton will warm your heart.
Enjoy!

Removed from reality.

I had occasion to work with someone I don't know at all today. We were staff at a conference and there was a whole lot of down time and so, we chatted. Her hair was thick and lovely, she was trim and fit. She had beautiful clothing and she took great care with her appearance. We spoke of her social life and her desire to be a mom. She was by outward appearances a confident woman looking for a man, a gal in tune with the biological imperative to reproduce. I couldn't believe what she said and I am still shaking my head in wonder. How is it that people, indeed women today have become so removed from the reality of life?


This seemingly educated young women in a conversation about birth said "It's just not natural. It's totally unnatural to push a baby from you vagina. It's just not natural!"

Ya ha! Is it natural, Honey. That's how it happens most of the time!