Moments of Joy and Insanity, Memories of Stupidity and Humiliation

It's going to be another long post, folks. Gird up your loins. This is going to be an entry of Israel-reportlike proportions. ( Melissa coined that phrase. Can't take credit for it myself.)

I LOVE this hot weather. The humidity I could do without, but...oh well. I have no A/C in my car, which is perfectly fine because I like driving with the windows down. I am not one whose hair is perfectly coiffed at all times. In fact, it's safe to say that it's practically NEVER perfectly coiffed.

I experienced a rare moment of blissful exultation as I drove home this afternoon. The windows were down, it was glaringly sunny, I had a chilled beverage from Dunkin Donuts, and I was listening to "Mildred Madeline Johnson" sung by Fernando Ortega. Maybe it was the iced coffee - which I hardly ever drink so perhaps it had extra power over my system- but I yielded to a strong urge to sound my barbaric yawp, as Walt Whitman would put it. It was fun to just make noise - yell for no reason. And then, the song "Take Heart, my Friend" sobered and inspired me...and ministered immensely to my spirit. I want to learn to play it.

Another moment of joy today: seeing a stunning group of wild, purple irises by the side of the road as I took a walk.

I noticed an amusing sign leaving Hannafords yesterday. It said something like, " We hope you enjoyed your hassle-free savings." WELL! By definition, grocery shopping IS a hassle to most people.

So, today was the official ground breaking ceremony at the Shelter. It was a relatively big shin-dig. We had refreshments, a little tent on the front lawn, members of the press, hardhats and shovels, bigwigs from the Lutheran Social Services organization, a banner hung up on the front of the house that said, "Antrim Girls Shelter"... ( There is not a sign out front regularly. Although many of the townspeople know what we are, we don't really want to advertise the fact that we are housing delinquent teenage girls. Yep! A bunch of vulnerable, rebellious, bad girls who want to run away live here! Calling all ne'er-do-wells!) The press were instructed that they couldn't take pictures of the girls- to protect their privacy- but they asked for a picture of the staff and boardmembers standing behind the bigwigs who were wearing the hardhats and pretending to break ground... (The REAL groundbreaking took place about three weeks ago when the bulldozers started gnawing away at the yard!) It's one of those real boring pictures that end up on the fifth page of the newspaper and no one ever looks at...but still... I didn't know I was going to be in a picture today. I had on some pretty bland looking clothes and felt a tad silly standing next to the gussied-up program director.

( It reminded me of when I graduated from college and found myself in a photo-op standing next to the President of the college...Actually, it was the awards ceremony the night before graduation and I didn't think it was going to be a big deal so I dressed kind of casual...I can just hear Chad clucking at me in disbelief. Besides, I thought, my gown/robe and hood will cover whatever I'm wearing...so it doesn't matter! Well, i didn't realize until I got there that we weren't supposed to wear the hoods to the awards ceremony, and when I took the hood off, the extremely ratty collar of the old faded jean shirt I was wearing stuck out in a most conspicuous way. I felt thoroughly humiliated standing next to Father Jonathan among a group of ultra-dressy students, trying to pretend that all was normal.)

ANYWAY- back to the groundbreaking. The sun was hot and as we stood there, smooshed together,waiting for all the picture-takers to finish, I felt like we were at a family reunion. ("ONE MORE! EVERYBODY SMILE!" ...all the people in the picture smiling fake smiles and saying through clenched teeth, "Hurryup!" ) So look for me soon in the background of a boring picture on the fifth page of a newspaper near you. I'm the one who looks young. The photographer referred to me as "the girl" as she arranged us all. ( "Could the girl step up here?") ( The girl? I guess I was the youngest one of the group..but...)( This reminds me of when we were flying back from California last time and we sat in the emergency exit row. When the flight attendant came by to ask if we were willing and able to perform all the necessary duties in case of an emergency, she looked at me and said, " Are you over 18?" Oh my word.)

Oh...to step back in time a bit for another amusing tableau....After lunchtime, about an hour before the ceremony, the kitchen was a scene of mass chaos. Several girls were doing chores in a postage stamp sized area, the phone was ringing off the hook, the doorbell rang, construction noise from right outside the window was battering us all, it was WICKED hot, I was forming chocolate chip cookies for the refreshment table, girls were ogling young, brawny construction workers outside ( this is going to be a FUN summer)...and then, in the midst of it all, there was Marci. She is our cook. She is the one who, you may remember from a previous post, imitated the dying piglets. Well, Matt's wife Jody, and 1.5 year old son Silas, came in for the celebration...and Marci adores Silas...as we all do... But she has a unique way of showing it. She takes great delight in making him laugh and today's entertainment for Silas consisted of Marci's monkey imitation. This involved screeching, hooting, and jumping- arms akimbo- exactly like a crazed monkey. Really loud. Really long. I felt for a few moments as if I was in the midst of a loony bin. I LOVE Marci.