So, I am trying to be somewhat patient about the weeds growing up in my yard. My neighbors have even tried to come up with a plan on how to trick my landlord into doing it quicker. One day I called and let him know that I would be home alllllll day so he can send people to get them up. That didn’t work. I thought about just paying for it myself, but someone else told me that the landlord won’t pay me back so just be patient and let him do it. What can I say…I am still waiting.
In the meantime, the neighborhood kids came over so they could show me how to read the water counter at my house. For every drop of water that I use there is a little counter outside that tells how much I have used. It might sound like I have never had running water at my house, but honestly, at home in America if the utility bill didn’t come in the mail to say how much water was consumed and how much I need to pay for the month, I would have no idea. And sadly, I can’t even verify if it is right. I kinda like being able to go outside and check to see exactly how much water I am using and be able to verify when the bill comes at the end of the month that they have not miscalculated. Enough of the aside; getting back to the story.
The kids came over to show me where to read the water usage, and while they were there they decided to help me out by getting up some of the weeds by my outdoor water spigot. That turned into a whole world of fun!! A bunch of them started a game where they ripped them out of the ground and then threw them over the wall. Next thing you know like 6 boys in the neighborhood and my favorite little girl were throwing the stuff over the tall wall of my yard. And like most kids, they exerted too much energy and got tired so their minds and imaginations started wondering and they found something else to do. The ring leader was my next door neighbor’s kid. He is a twin and he is pretty cocky, but seems to figure out a way to do the least amount of work possible. So as you can imagine he was the first to chill out on the hard labor of getting rid of the weeds in my yard. I have no complaints because it was a nice gesture for them to look out for their “Tanti” (this is a pet name like auntie that they call me) and get the weeds up anyway. Using his childhood imagination and all the random things one can find in my yard, he started picking up nails and pieces of wood. I was curious as to what he would do when he searched intently and then found a rock and started pounding away…
Slowly, one by one the work crew died down and everyone had pieces of wood and searching for nails and good rocks to use as hammers. “Qu’est que c’est?” I ask them what it is that they are making. It looks like little crosses so I was not sure if they were religious or what…nope, they were making swords for their sword fight! It was hilarious. It was like all of the movies they have ever seen. You know how when kids make the “ching, ching” noise when the swords hit and then they fake a death and fall on the ground. They stuck the swords in their pants like sword holsters. It was great! It was hard to get an action shot of them actually sword fighting because they wanted to make their mean sword faces and pose for the camera, but nonetheless, it was a great ending to my evening. I absolutely love kids and the freedom of their imaginations. They inspire me to look around at what seems to be leftover junk from constructing my house and envision masterpieces. I hope to take their childlike imaginations into every aspect of my life. I also challenge you to do the same. What seems like broken and fragmented pieces can come together, you just have to look for it.
(written Sept 19)
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