It is Tuesday and time to write a 'Slice of Life."
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When we are out and about, here’s what I notice –
the bearded irises are still pretty even when lounging on the lawn, the begonia blossoms into tiny angels, and I'm so happy the peonies bloomed after the rains came through. She offers me an entirely different take on the world. What does she notice? She discovers it on cars. It is also popular on the lawn’s edge. She’s been appalled to find it lurking on the front steps. Sometimes she stops in the middle of the street to bear witness. As if this wasn’t enough, in recent days, it has begun appearing on the windows at the back of our house. Have you guessed her obsession? Animal droppings. Especially - bird poop. Aviary guano. Foul of fowl. This spring has dovetailed (ooh, there’s a pun!) with toilet-training and she is riveted. Yes, this is the number one topic of my darling grandchild. (I nicknamed her ‘Bird’ - so, I suppose I should have predicted this grimy interest.) She has laser focus for every sighting. On our neighborhood walks, she gasps with alarm, needing to pause and inspect. She demands that every soiled area be cleaned up, immediately - and has been less than impressed when I refuse to do so, steering her away from the find. The rule ‘out of sight, out of mind’ does not apply. Each of these moments is treasured in her mind, and shared as the primary gossip of the day. What did you do, today, hon? There was bird poop on the window! Who knew the world could be full of such mystery and wonder? I offer a simple poem, to remember this developmental stage of hers.
window washing the gutters at back of house are a favorite stop for winged loiterers heralding foul of fowls up, in, around all to her delight each discovery so exciting Nana! Gotta clean! and so spray and towel in hand windows flipped open I scour scrub rub sparkle shine polishing away streaks and she is right at my side inspecting
Oh Maureen, I love your poem. Bird droppings can be so difficult to remove especially if they’ve eaten some dark berries. I love the focus at the end of your poem. Truly lovely poem!
Thanks, Barb! It is actually very dear, to have her at my elbow, directing my work. She’s a cutie!
I love your granddaughter’s obsession and your description of it. We never know what will catch their attention!
She is so much fun! They see things at a whole different level than we do, a good reminder of all there is to learn about, lol. Thank you for commenting!
Those little eyes, scrutinizing and inspecting, like sponges – – taking it all in. What a blessing you are to your family, instilling a love of nature and birds and creatures as they grow and learn from their grandmother. This ripple will reach far into future generations. I’m loving the poem and the prose working together, much the way a Haiku Sonnet works with the prose and poem as well. She sounds like the kid who would love an owl pellet kit to be able to look at all the owl ate and what comes out in the end. Thanks for sharing – – this is precious today!
Thank you! I bet you are right – she will be a kiddo who loves to dissect owl pellets. I had many students like this. It is a precious time in my life, to be alongside her two days a week for caregiving. I’m glad you enjoyed the prose + poem – I enjoy ‘setting the scene’ with prose.
Maureen, hooray for capturing this poem. I love that you are memorializing each step for Bird and Frog. So funny! “Aviary guano. Foul of fowl.”
Thanks, Denise! It is great fun to be with the grandkids…and I want to savor it forever; the writing definitely helps me do this.
Maureen,
LOl! At first I thought Bird wanted to play w/,poop but realized she’s a little tidy neat nik insisting g you clean. I know I’ll pay later for chuckling. I think this entire post has the makings of a glorious spoken word poem. Honestly. Barb is experienced w/ spoken word, so I’m offering her assistance. You have some witty word play here. I love “ foul of fowls” and the contrasts in what you and Bird notice. This made my day!
Thank you, Glenda! Bird keeps us smiling here, too. That’s a fun idea, to consider this more spoken word – I like that.
Maureen, I truly enjoyed your granddaughter’s encounters with poop. We just finished a long toilet training time. Poopy is a word that we hear many times. Your opening makes a lovely image prose poem and wonder if you would like to showcase it in my Springsations Gallery. The padlet container is at https://padlet.com/cvarsalona/springsations-gallery-of-artistic-expressions-vol-2-for-npm–kf5c2nia2mez8d1n.