My Favorite Frown

(this post was originally written May 20, 2011, but I had written it on OurCompassion.org and I really wanted to have this on my blog, to keep Alok's story fluid)

A while ago, I sent 2 "just because" presents on the same day, one for Abigail in Ghana, and one for Alok in East India.  For those who don't remember, Ghana is really fast about responding.  Today, I got a thank you letter and a photo for the gift from one of the kids.  At the first instant, my brain could not reconcile why a picture of Alok had been attached to Abigail's letter, and then it all clicked to together, and I realized, Alok's thank you note actually beat Abigail's!  Amazing!
I sent the gift with a note that a small portion should be used to buy Alok something that would delight him, and I gave a few suggestions of ideas. Can anyone guess which item he chose for his fun item?  It shouldn't be hard!

"Thank you so much for you precious and beautiful gift. I was so happy when I got it. By your gift money I have bought... one pairs of pants and a shirt, sneakers, sweats, and one football."

Which item do we think he considers "precious" and "beautiful"? Is there any doubt? (Notice, there's still an opaque plastic bag, but this time, it's underneath the items, instead of vice versa! I'm fine with that.  Also, just look at how gangly he's getting! My square little 5 year old is growing up into a gangly 8 year old!)

Yes, his face is still frowning. It's a rare picture of Alok that catches him smiling. Honestly, I have come to love that frown of his, because he is such a serious little one.  This photo is my favorite frown however, because I know that later his brow will be furrowed with determination, and dripping with sweat, as he takes his beautiful new football out and plays every boy in the neighborhood. Later, when he clambers home as the sun sets, stinky, dusty and satisfied, he'll tuck that ball safely away near his sleeping mat before going to bed, and the ball will remind him, "My auntie loves me." 

And to me, having Alok know he is loved is better than any smiling photo.


(Addition: A several months later, a picture arrived of him with his soccer ball and a grin. Bonus!)

Grins look good on him, too

Putting Roots Down

In life, it seems one of the most regular and necessary lessons to needing to be learned is that you need to learn to grow where you are planted. I have spent a lot of time studying that particular lesson, and I have come to the conclusion that it's not likely I'll ever be an oak, as those are plants that tend to put down roots in one place and grow in that one place until they die.

My life seems to lean towards a more mobile style of growth. What kind of plant that makes me, I'm not exactly sure, and I'm not sure I really want to find out. That might ruin the fun of growing. What I do know is that during all this time I have been working on learning on growing where I am planted, I really have not had much of a chance to plant where I'm growing.

 

This home in the trailer is the first time in 8 years that I have had a space that is mine enough to invest the effort, time, money, and patience required to make plants grow. Lately, I have been playing in the dirt, and loving it! The color and life that greets me as I pull into my driveway brightens my spirits every time. The soil here is rather neglected. In fact, when digging in the sand, soil, gravel mix that is behind my trailer, I am always afraid that when it dries, I will return to accidental pavement!

Because of the state of the soil, and the flexible nature of the place I live, I've invested most of my time and plants into pots. This allows me to move the plants whenever the environment changes (for example, my neighbor got a larger trailer, turning one of my "full sun" areas into a "mostly dark" area).

Some of my seedlings are coming up beautifully. For any of you who are more of the "instant gratification" sort than the "patience is its own reward" sort, plant sunflowers! I think I probably would have gone mad waiting for my other seedlings to show if the sunflower seedlings had not sprung up so quickly. Seriously, I think I checked the dirt at least 3 times a day starting on the day I planted the seeds. Being accustomed to horticultural failure, I planted lots of seeds.  Surprisingly, a majority of the sunflower seeds came up...which made spacing the seedlings into quite an interesting event. If everything goes as I hope, I will have decorative sunflowers beaming at me from all corners of my little lot of dirt. The California poppies on the, other hand, I've seen 3 so far, and I killed one. I hear they are hardy little plants, but I guess you have to let them do their own thing.

A special thanks must go out to my friend Judy, who sent me home with several terra cotta pots, which hold the respected place of the-only-pots-I-own-that-aren't-plastic! Also, to my Dad who keeps providing with the tools I need to make things a little easier, and gave me the only half of my genetics that stand a chance at not killing the plants.

So, my nails are dirty, my plot of dirt looks like I live here, and it makes me happy. This is one of those little things in my life that please me greatly right now.

I may be in a temporary life stage right now, but at least I can put some roots down somewhere!

Thanks for reading.