Summer Singing

It is true that summer makes me sing.

Not in the shower, or with the radio.

More like sun singing, green and purple.

Moxie singing. Pesto songs.

Fiddle sounds flutter out of her window and into mine.

Trill. Skip. Moths and butterflies and ladybugs and birds.

And singing.

Bob and Poison Ivy

by Cole

**Note. This story includes drawings. I so want to scan all of the drawings, but for now, it's just the story. The comments regarding the drawings are made by me (unless in quotes).

Aside from a few spelling/punctuation corrections this is exactly how Cole wrote the story.

Cover

*Drawing. Bob saying, "It won't hurt," with all sorts of bumps protruding from his body.

Page 2

Bob was an ordinary man. He liked pizza and going on adventures and rainy days. He went into the woods and touched a leaf. He did not know it was poison ivy.

*Drawing. Bob saying, "It's just a leaf, right."

Page 3

Then Bob's finger started to itch. So Bob called the doctor but all the doctor said was that he should be on a liquid diet.

*Drawing. You should see Bob's face when the Dr. tells him to go on a liquid diet.

Page 4

So then he had to explain it to the doctor. But then he remembered that he was on a liquid diet. And that he ate a turkey for dinner last night.

*Drawing. Bob having lots of funny looks on his face.

Page 5

So Bob said that he ate a turkey. The doctor was so mad that he pulled his beard off and hung up. So Bob went on "Itch" dot com. Itch dot com showed bug itches, instalation (I'm not sure what this is) itches and last but not least plant itches. It showed a plant that was familiar to him; he also remembered he had touched it.

*Drawing. Bob sitting at his computer, straight-faced, visiting itch dot com.

Page 6

It said its name was poison ivy and if you were allergic to it you would have blisters and before you got blisters it would itch a lot lot lot.

Page 7

Well apparently he was allergic. His hand kept itching and it started to get wrinkly too.

*Drawing. Bob looks gigantic and very, very itchy.

Page 8

One week later a blister appeared. It looked green and ugly and it didn't itch anymore. But he didn't know how to get it off.

*Drawing. Four squares showing how Bob cannot get the blister off. Bob has an exclamation point over his head.

Page 9

Bob called the doctor again. He said he was on a liquid diet which made the doctor calmer. Bob talked to the doctor about the poison ivy. He said that it would go away in a week.

*Drawing. Bob on the phone with funny expressions on his face.

Page 10

In a week the bump went away. So Bob was up and running into trouble.

*Last drawing. Scanned for my personal viewing pleasure as I adore the ending to this story.

Kid Stuff

My children are in Maine with their grandparents and I am taking the time to go through the world's largest paper pile--paper accumulated over the past year--or maybe longer.

I am finding things that I have not seen before. Little sketches, stories, poems, pictures, notes. A year's worth of children being children.

A year's worth of pink kitty drawings.

I have been laughing out loud. And crying out loud. And doing other things out loud.

I have been invigorated, inspired, illuminated, awed, soured (like a pickle, not milk), surprised.

I am profoundly thankful for the teachers, friends, and humans interacting with my children; you are a gift.

My children are a gift and I am grateful.

Over the next few days I am going to try to post found things that I love. My favorites...and then I will shove everything into a folder or box or file or cabinet. I will freeze moments in time. I will let go and live.