Provincetown
It poured the whole weekend at the Cape, so we puttered around the midway point one day and drove out to the tip the next, and found the Atlantic broiling and wild, and somehow it infected the kids with the same.I thought about Cathy G when I was in Provincetown: about the day 20 yrs ago that we left work for a walk to a deli and she was silent and skittish, and then asked me out in the elevator on the way back to the office. Blew my mind: gay was still something new and a little scary to me, having so much undiscovered myself about sexuality and identity. I said no in my best kind way, but am sure now it wasn't kind enough, and that the awkwardness that followed made her sorry she ever met me.
Nowadays I'm not sure I get all the divisions and identifications in human life--not sure we're all so simply chalked up.
_____________
"What's Columbus Day for?" Liam asks Maisie on the drive home. "It's when we celebrate Columbus's first trip to America," she says, "only he was the guy who brought the rest of the white people with him and they stole everything from the American Indians and then killed them. So I'm not so sure about Columbus."
He's quiet. "But we get a day off from school, so that's nice," he says. "Yeah," she nods.
posted by I n g e r @ Monday, October 10, 2005
13 Comments:
what a smart girl maisie is...
as for cathy .. all things in their time, you know?
today...no doubt whe has forgiven you and understands...
when i was 18 and alone.. i didn't get it either..
time passes .. and it becomes too late .. if you let it..
First of all it's always been my theory that the wind makes kids crazy! :-) That picture of Liam makes me think that the waves and wind brought out the wild-man in him!
Secondly, Maisies perspective is right on. She seems to see the world as it really is, not just what "grown ups" tell her. Smart one, that kid! Watch out!
Lastly, as I get older and try to grow up myself, I'm finding your statement about people not being "so simply chalked up" to be very, very true. Most of us are extremely complicated beings, unable to be compartmentalized as society (or whomever) wants us to be. I also find the complexities of people and relationships is frustrating as hell and is also the spice in life I love all at the same time!
beautiful post, again... and the photo too. liam is in full-on beach mode. i have seen that look!
it's odd to recollect the days between the days.(like 20 year-old memories) i do that more-and-more.
columbus day, yep. more like the -prelude-to-genocide day.
They are adorable Inger!
And the language, too! :)
They're adorable, and nice that they had a chance to go wild.
I'm not fond of PC in elementary school, though. There's more to that story . . .
Inger...how did this happen that you ended up in my life? With your great kids...with you...with you amazing ability to say what you want to say.
I've said it before. Your kids are so so so lucky!
XXOO
STB
I agree what a smart girl Maisie is.
What a great picture of your two beautiful kids. The wind the and surf looked powerful!
~Deb
yes i can;t wait to see what these amazing kids of yours will offer to the world once they've grown...you really are doing an amazing job of raising them, i can tell that just from what i read here...ciao...
re: cathy
could have been worse. do you watch margaret cho at all? the gay daddy story from notorious c.h.o.?
"if your gay friend say 'i love you,' don't punch! say thank you."
Maisie has the same take on things as 6! Interesting children - obviously bright!
I can see Liam's energy in the pic. Karate is wonderful for energetic kids.
6 is going to karate because she has an abundance of energy and needs to learn some social skills.
The school she is in teaches self defence, problem solving and conflict resolution as well as stressing respect for teachers and fellow students. Recently, after a comment by one of the students, the whole class was kept 5 minutes after class for a talk about bullying. Karate has made a huge difference to 6 in her confidence. I'll bet Liam would love it!
awesome picture to go along with what you said about the water.
i remember the awkwardness of such a time that you wrote about.
And I agree with you about the classifications. That it isn't as simple as we have chalked it up to be.
I find great strength from your posts. I feel accepted when I read what you write. I'm not exactly sure why. But I like your tone.
Thanks,
Anna
Damn, we don't get the day of from school.........
I am moving to Conn., do they need elementary teachers.....
That is a great picture of Liam. You have some great kids.
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