Random Thoughts

It’s easy to forget that we all have a story. I got reminded of that fact today, and I am so grateful. I have been away from my beloved “Little Yellow Free Pantry” for about 2 months and I really missed it.   It was in great hands, neighbors kept it stocked and well taken care of.   But I missed checking it, filling it, and most importantly, interacting with people who stop to get groceries out of it. So today when I saw someone getting food from the pantry, I was super excited to go out and chat.   There are some regular visitors that I know and I can grab them their groceries from the basement supply without needing to ask what they are hungry for because I can predict.   But today’s visitor was someone new – I had never seen him before.   Extra exciting! I went out and said hello and the visitor seemed open and kind.   We began a conversation right away.   He said that his buddies live nearby and they told him how “awesome our house was” or something like that.   That made m

I think about death a lot. Not in a macabre way, but in what I think is a practical way. I guess it is because I have been around quite a lot of death in my lifetime.  But I experienced death from a strange angle this week. Four big bins of clothes were donated for the next Kindness Yard Sale (coming in September). They were given to me by a friend, but they were not her clothes. They were clothes taken from a house where the owner died, and the home was being cleaned out.  I suspected to find “old lady” blouses and blankets, but instead the bins were filled with really pretty, stylish ladies’ clothing. I think the clothes were from the daughter of the deceased, not the woman who died. I took them out piece and piece and admired them as I put them into the washing machine. I hung load after load of clean, fresh, cute clothes.  Then I opened the dryer after starting a load of winter items. I already knew the girl whose clothes there were was very athletic from other loads – so

As an interpreter, I think about language a lot – about WORDS.   And the phrase I have been pondering for about a week is this:   ONCE IN A LIFETIME. People often use it to describe big, grand, amazing things.   ·          “Visiting the Grand Canyon – oh, that is a once in a lifetime experience!” ·          “Skydiving?   A total once in a lifetime experience!”   ·          “Front row tickets to a Lady Gaga concert?   Once in a lifetime, man!” ·          “A trip to Iceland to see the Northern Lights – wow, a once in a lifetime experience!!” The use of that phrase relating to positive events like those rubs me the wrong way.   Because here is the thing – if you invest your money and time in an experience or event, and it is fabulous and you love it – THEN DO IT AGAIN !!!!   Jumping on an in-ground trampoline in a park in Iceland?  NOT ONCE IN A LIFETIME! When I first started thinking about this, I realized how privileged my take on this sounds.   Things that people refer to as

Something happened to me yesterday. It wasn’t a “big deal”, but it happened. And, because it wasn’t a “big deal”, I tried to push it out of my mind.   I had things to do, right?   Just keep going with life. But the thing is, it is almost 24 hours later and I am still thinking about it.   The sun is shining, it is a gorgeous day, and instead of being outside drinking it all in, I am inside, writing it all down.   Sometimes writing things down is a way of sharing them with others.   Sometimes writing things down is a way of doing a “brain dump” and getting them out of my head so that I can focus on other things.   This piece is BOTH – sharing, and dumping. If you are male, you might not understand.   The whole #MeToo thing seems ages ago now, doesn’t it?   That’s all finished, fixed, right? No.   Seemingly “little” things happen daily in the lives of women.   They happen so often that sometimes we don’t even notice them.   The gaze as we cross the street.   The smile that is

January 1, 2021 I shaved my head.   Well, to be more precise, I asked my stylist to shave it. This was the 2 nd time in my life to be bald.   The first time I went for it was in 2001.   My mom was losing her hair due to chemo for colon cancer, so my big sister, partner and I all shaved in solidarity.   It ended up being pretty hilarious because in the months following, my mom (the actual cancer patient) looked great with her real-human hair wig, while the 3 of us who were healthy walked around with doo-rags and/or shiny heads looking like chemo patients. The first time I ever shaved my head - November 2001 But 2021 was different. I wasn’t shaving in support of someone else. I was shaving for ME. I was taking control of one thing I could control – MYSELF. 2020 was a year out-of-control.   Covid 19.   Isolation.   No socialization.   Loneliness.   Plans, big plans, cancelled.   The whole world seemed to invert and crash down on my chest.   And your chest.   And EVERYONE’S chest.

I learned this lesson years ago, but apparently I needed a refresher course this evening: We “pay” with what we can.   “Currency” does not take one form. The first person to visit the Little Yellow Free Pantry gave me my reminder of that concept.   The pantry has been open since 2:00 pm on Saturday, but as of 6:00 pm Monday night far we had not had any shoppers, only DONORS!   And we have had some amazing donors!!   But I have been busy trying to figure out how to best get the word out to people who actually need the food. But then I looked outside, and in the darkness, I saw the little glow of the pantry lights…   I thought, “Someone is putting MORE in there?   It is chock full right now!”.   Then I saw a bag on the ground…   I grabbed a mask, stepped out on the back porch, and said, “Hello!”.   A woman answered back, and I walked closer to the pantry to talk. I introduced myself and she told me her name.   She was an older black woman, and her bags and blanket made it clear sh