Shadow Baby

This is an oldie, but I find the ideas intriguing. I dedicate it to my parents even though it isn't my best work they were the inspiration.


Once there was a world of shadows. Shadow people lived in shadow houses and drove shadow cars. Very little of the shadow world was real; everything was just shadows that looked real. There were, however, two shadow people who had been made real.
Being real made them different from the other shadow people. For one thing they glowed. People for miles around watched the two glowing people through the walls of their shadow house. Everyone wanted an invitation to the real shadow’s house. Some folks said if you talked to them long enough you could find out the secret of being real.
The two real shadows loved each other and their shadow house, but somehow it had seemed rather empty lately. The lady shadow fussed and cleaned and decorated the house, but that didn’t help. The man shadow invited more and more people to the shadow house, but they never filled the house.
As the real shadows pondered and prayed they slowly realized what they were missing—a shadow baby. As soon as the plan was decided upon, the real shadows went to work. People smiled for miles around as they watched the glowing shadows prepare. “There’ll soon be three glows in that shadow house.” They said.
Slowly but surely the day arrived and a shadow baby came to live in the little shadow house. The mommy shadow was so pleased with the beautiful shadow baby. She diapered and bottled and burped her with great joy, and most folks agreed she was glowing more brightly than usual. The daddy shadow couldn’t help showing the shadow baby to everyone because he was so proud of his shadow baby. But as people watched for miles around they were surprised. There were still only two glows living in the shadow house.
“Is your baby all right?” A neighbor came to ask. “I can’t see her little glow.”
“Oh, she doesn’t glow—not yet.” The shadow daddy answered.
“We’re hoping she’ll become real, soon.” The shadow mommy said.
“Oh.” The shadow neighbor said. So the word spread for miles around that the shadow baby wasn’t real yet.
“Hmmm,” The neighbors said as the years went by. “Maybe shadows can’t be made real.”
But the mommy shadow and the daddy shadow knelt down together and prayed.
Time went by and the little shadow baby became a shadow girl, who loved to play house. One day she called all of her shadow friends and they began to play house.
“You can be the daddy shadow and I’ll be the mommy shadow and little Sue can be the baby shadow.” Baby Shadow said.
“O.K., can we be your family?” asked her friend.
“Sure.” Said Baby Shadow.
“We need two flashlights to make us glow like your mom and dad.” The friend shadow said.
“What about little Sue? Won’t she need a flashlight?” The shadow baby asked.
“Baby shadows don’t glow; they’re just like everybody else.” He said.
Baby Shadow’s eyes grew wide. “Baby shadows don’t glow, even if their mommy and daddy glow?” She asked worriedly.
“Course not. Look at you. Your parents glow, but you don’t.” Baby Shadow’s friend explained matter-of-factly.
“I’ve got to go home now.” Baby Shadow said and began to run. She ran and ran as fast as she could to her little shadow house and her real shadow mommy.
“Mommy, Mommy, I don’t glow!” she cried as she crashed through the door.
The mommy shadow snuggled her baby shadow close to her heart while she prayed. When the sobs slowed to sniffles, and the prayer had been answered, the mommy shadow quietly said; “Baby Shadow, would you like to glow?”
Baby Shadow’s soggy face nodded.
“The only way to glow is to be made real.” Mommy said.
“Will you make me real, Mommy?” Baby Shadow asked.
“I can’t make you real, Baby; you’ll have to ask the Real Man to make you real.”
“Who is the Real Man, Mommy?” Baby Shadow was very curious now.
“The Real Man made Shadow world and all the shadow people. He meant for them to be real, but they decided to be shadows. The Real Man knows that someday the sun’s light will fill the whole world, and all of the shadows will disappear; only what is real will be left. But there was no way for the shadows to be made real.”
Baby Shadow interrupted. “You and Daddy are real.”
“Yes, we are, Baby Shadow.” Mommy continued, “We asked the Real Man to make us real. You see he became a shadow. He came here and lived in Shadow Land. We hated him because he glowed, so we took him out to the sun. The sun was so bright we thought that he had disappeared. We thought he was gone forever, and some of us missed his glow. A few days later he returned, and he was no longer a shadow—he was real. He was the first real shadow. He gave us the glow that makes us real.”
“Why don’t I glow then, Mommy?” The baby shadow asked.
“Because you have to ask the Real Man to make you real.” Mommy answered.
“Can I ask him right now?” Baby asked.
“Of course.”
“Do I have to go anywhere special?”
“No, you can ask him to make you real right here, right now, if you want to, Baby Shadow.” Mommy Shadow said.
“I want to, Mommy.” Baby said.
Right there in the little shadow house Baby Shadow was made real and started to glow.
“Look at that!” said all the people for miles around, “Baby Shadow is real!”
“The Real Man is real.” Said all the people for miles around, and some of them began to glow.

Dummies

for Virginia Woolf

I called myself dumbme
It was too early for mumme
insignificant difference

I was sent off to studhe
It was called debriefing
you could miss or Miss

I chose to Miss
It was just pretendshun
he Mrs'd me so

I thought their voices could speak four me
You may call it infancy
dumb misstake

I heard my cryit amplified
It was childrend
mum was the word

Dumbmes studhe ventriloquism.

Miss Carson's Farm in Summer

Chavo pulled his head back into the truck. He felt scared. What if Miss Carson hadn't liked his joke? What if she didn't want to hire his family? What had he done?

Big Pedro smiled at his son. "Chavo, what is wrong? One minute you are happy. The next you are sad. Tell me what is wrong."

"Papa, I put a bag of compost under Miss Carson's porch. I closed it up tight so it would smell. I think she will be mad at me. I think she might not hire you."

Big Pedro smiled. "I think she likes your jokes. She is your friend. You worked hard on the compost. You may make a little joke."

Chavo felt better. Miss Carson did like his jokes. She played pranks too. She had hired his family for several years. She would hire them this year.

Miss Carson was waiting in the drive. Her eyes smiled at Chavo. Chavo smiled back.
"Would you like to come and sit on the porch with me, Chavo?" she asked. Chavo and Big Pedro smiled. Miss Carson did like his joke.

"Welcome back, Pedro. It is good to see you again. Where is Young Rosa and the rest?" Miss Carson asked.

"They are riding in the camper. Only Chavo wanted to ride with Papa in the truck." Big Pedro said.

"I have the house ready. Will you need it this year?" Miss Carson looked puzzled.

"Oh, Si, Senora. Little Pedro is not so little anymore. He wanted his own camper. Here he comes now." Big Pedro looked proud of Little Pedro. Little Pedro was a grown man. He was very tall and strong. Big Pedro was glad Little Pedro still liked to work for Miss Carson.

As soon as the camper was parked, people spilled out of the door. Everyone hugged Miss Carson. It was going to be a great summer. The apple trees were blooming. The strawberries were growing. The fields were ready to plant.

Everyone was working hard. The farm was a success. Many people liked to buy their produce from Miss Carson because her organic food tasted so good. Little Pedro was extra happy when Susan came to buy fruits and vegetables. Susan was a chef at the Mexican Grill. She was a very good cook. Little Pedro thought she was pretty.

When Susan came, Little Pedro found the best asparagus, strawberries, blueberries and lettuce. Susan like Little Pedro, too. She always had time to go for a walk on the farm when she came.

One day after Susan left the farm, Little Pedro had a long talk with Big Pedro. Big Pedro smiled. He had a good secret to keep. Then Little Pedro went to talk to Susan's family. Susan and her family smiled. Susan and Little Pedro were going to get married.

Miss Carson and Young Rosa had so many things to do. Little Pedro and Susan were going to have the party in the orchard. Everyone worked hard to keep the farm going and to get ready for the wedding. It was exciting.

On the day of the wedding, Miss Carson and Chavo stayed behind to finish getting ready for the party. "I will bring Chavo to the church." Miss Carson said.

After everyone was gone, Chavo showed Miss Carson a bag of compost. They sealed it up tight. "Where should we put this, Chavo?" she asked. Chavo giggled. They put it under Little Pedro's camper. Little Pedro and Susan would have a silly surprise when they came home.

Divine Asparagus

I've been thinking food is a big part of my life that's under-represented here, so here's a recipe I threw together and that I love.

Ingredients

1 bunch Asparagus, prepped and cut into bite size pieces
3 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 large or 6 small cloves of garlic
a sprinkle of pepper flakes to taste
salt and pepper to taste
Half a lemon
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
(12 cherry tomatoes)optional
(1/2 lb fettucini)optional

Instructions

1. Blanch Asparagus pieces in boiling water for 2 minutes.
2. Heat Olive Oil in pan and add minced garlic cloves and pepper flakes.
3. Add in the blanched Asparagus. Cook until warmed and appropriately tender. (Add halved cherry tomatoes and cooked fettucine at this point if you're adding them).
4. Remove from heat. Spritz with Lemon. Sprinkle with Cheese.
5. Try not to eat it all before your guests get some. :)

The Whole World is Ya Ya!

When I was a child I longed to be part of a secret club. I spent my childhood on the lookout for folks who knew the passwords and inventing disguises and codes for when I finally found my tribe. The trouble was everyone who seemed to know the passwords were wearing disguises and speaking in codes. What I really needed was someone who could see through disguises and read codes. What I needed was to see my true self in someone else's eyes, that was the only way I could imagine seeing myself. I thought someone else had to find me first, but I was wrong.

In order to see I had to learn how to look. I had to learn to look through my own mirror and read the backwards writing, backwards because that's the only way it makes any sense. What we all need is to learn to see through our own disguises, when you can do that you not only see yourself you see all the world around you. I'm getting better at this and what I'm seeing is a world of people who are scared shitless. Giving up your shit before you read it is a bad idea. Just ask Oprah, she did a whole show on it. A Rush to Flush can rot your whole colon out. Bonafide fact. Many people writing about clutter, purging and organizing are trying to escape their crap, but sooner or later everybody's "beday" overflows with "darknight." You can't clean yourself into somebody else and if you could you wouldn't like the result.

We are designed to shit. It's what we do, and while I'm not recommending that you trade in your mud mask for something earthier, I am suggesting what's in your pores is as important as reducing them. Learning to accept the uniqueness of your imperfections is the first step in realizing you're perfect just the way you are, and so is everybody else. Ya Ya!

Pick and Run

In my front yard are three whiskey barrels filled with dirt and herbs. I added this feature to our yard to disguise a dead spot in the lawn, but as soon as the plan formed I could see all the joggers, walkers, bikers getting a savory whiff and I knew my barrels were meant for greater things. I am not merely covering up dead grass; I am expanding my community's culinary imagination. Right now my plants are too small, but once they are well established I'll put out a sign inviting passers-by to sniff and snip for their dinners. I see Lean Cuisines brightened with a chiffanade of basil, or fresh dill will be perking up Friday's fish. I'm hopeful the flavor of cilantro will escape the salsa bowl. I have great expectations for my little experiment in community building. I'll keep you posted. Meanwhile, if the imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and you'd like to flatter me you can find ideas for your own sniff and snip garden here.

More than Enough

13 Hot Dirty Feet
13 Hot, Dirty Men.
1 clean sole, breaking
1 Soul for 13 men.