Saturday, September 15, 2007

Saturdays and Starfish

1992
"It's our birthday,
Saturdays and Starfish,
We're five and six"......

I look around. They're building mad castles in the sand with teetering towers and deep,deep tunnels. In their own world. People passing barefooted on the beach smile at the day and night babies in the sand. Jonah is lighter complected than the sun's reflection, platiunum hair drooling down his neck in a rat's tail, eyes the color of see-through. Haley is Sophia Lauren as a child, long limbs stretching, brown eyes a sepia full moon. She is in charge; The Castle Contractor.He follows her lead for a moment and then spins on hands and knees chasing a sandcrab. "A buwfday giff, a buwfday giff"! he chants in circles. She rolls her eyes and continues to dribble wet sand on their steeples.....

I bite my bottom lip and draw. Pray I can capture this moment. When the tide is still and thoughtful, and my babies are at peace...growing in the sun.

2007

My little ones. Bigger than me. He just pulled out of the drive way in his canary yellow "please don't pull me over tonight" Chevy Blazer. A party is growing one text message at a time. She's going for dinner with her long time "Isn't he so cute?" Boy-O... candelight and clinks!

I can't draw fast enough to catch this moment.

Be safe little ones. Happy Birthday, my loves.....

38 comments:

skinnylittleblonde said...

Happy Birthday to those beautiful 'Doughnnnt herwt dos budderfies,' 'Lookee what I can do,' 'no, really I remember the cow licking me,' & 'my frontal lobe hurts' kiddos!
ILYSVMS ... and some!

JR's Thumbprints said...

I've done the math. Twenty and twenty-one. Happy Birthday indeed. Don't celebrate too much. And be safe.

david mcmahon said...

Enjoyed your observation on the `Telling Write From Wrong' post.

Do keep in touch

Cheers

David

eric1313 said...

What an amazing drawing. You're talent is just so vivid and wild. You share your art with us and it blesses everyone with its love.

Words and lines and colors and phrasing...

It's got it's own holy power glow.

And I bet they're holy terrors when out on the town.

"Deja-vu with a twist of lime", you once said...

last week, I think!

eric1313 said...

"When the tide is still and thoughtful"

a rare occurance. Good thing you had all the hoo-haw ready to go to capture a moment that kodak just wouldn't do the same justice for.

savannah said...

congrats, sugar! much love to you and them

Anonymous said...

a moment in time etched forever in our lives, the curl of the lip, the squint of the eye. The way they brush their hair out if their face. Jumping that wave that was so big{only 2 inches high} the squeel of joy. The puckered pout!!! moments of pure joy and peace! memories that hold us together forever! love to you all and happy bithday!!!!!!

i beati said...

where does that time go . so many moments frozen in my memory- I said I would record their voices when they were little - never did bummer

singleton said...

SLB....It's almost surreal that time has slithered past, those long long summers, but a brief second....and you sweet child, young and free, and here with me, raising babies....Thank you sweet sister of mine....Clinking! To you and Kimbies! For all you've ever done, and all that's left to do! ILYSVVFM and so do they!

JR....I did the math too! That's why I was a little nervous last night! It's not quite the same as driving them to Chucky Cheeses for a pizza party with five of their nearest and dearest kindegarden friends! And thank you for saying the words that I secretly chanted last night...."Be safe....be safe....be safe..."

David....Glad you did! Cheers to you alike!

Peace~love to all. Time flies, catch what you can in a butterfly net and enjoy it for the moment, it's only yours but for a brief second....

singleton said...

Eric....."with a twist of lime" exactly! And now you know why I was fidgeting! I learned a long time ago, to tote my little bucket of pens and markers and colors and the neon clipboard piled with paper pretty much wherever i go....sometimes the only thing scribbled are directions, or don't forget this or that, and sometimes....it's something that could never be re-created, has to be caught, right then and there! We started a porch-party book about five years ago, on volume three now, of doodlings, thoughts, scribblings....the pages have recorded places, moments, people in our lives....strangers have written there, new best friends, lovers, children, friends.....
Clink! To the morning sunshine....and the birthday boy, asleep, safely, back at home!

savannah....so nice to see you again, Sweetie! Much catchin' up to do!

peace~love my friends

singleton said...

kimbies.....we turn around and poof! They're grown! All those years of tripping over a sea of little arms and legs everywhere, of make-believe, and bigger and better.....all those nights, of rockin', pacing, strolling....And then smoking cigarettes in the wee hours, stranded on the phone lines.....waiting, perched and ready to run to the rescue! I love you sweet sister, and thank you, for being there every step of the way, from long before they arrived, to this very moment and forward....always there, always love, always you! ILYSVVM

sandy...I know. And when we are living it, so many moments you think you'll never forget or silly us, think will last forever....and then wham! you look back and it's a lifetime later. Peace~love, my friend.......

No said...

My 3 sons are still in the sand castle stage...thanks for reminding how quickly time passes, and I should treasure each moment...

by the way, us rednecks in the north country love to party too..having a big redneck Pheasant Country/Fall Wedding jam at my blog...you're all invited!!!!!!!!!!

mindy said...

happy birthday to your babes!!
hope you are well too!!
i haven't been able to come and see you lately... time gets away from me sometimes.

Maithri said...

Buwfday's are the best! At every age. Congrats to each of you! May each day of the coming year be your celebration. As far as im concerned you can never celebrate too much :)

Love and laughter, M.

Scott from Oregon said...

They sure scoot along in a hurry, don't they?

eric1313 said...

Good to hear they made it home from the festivities.

I worried for the sake of a cool mom and her brood of ducks.

clink!

Anonymous said...

Sister...saw a little car today that had obviously been parked in the driveway with 3 unattended children (Noah, Eva & Niki) on a summers' afternoon. The car was covered with their names & their doodlings ... all in fat black permanent marker. Lovingly one of the kids had scribbled flowers, while another drew a family portrait & still yet another had drawn a picture of the devil holding a sign that said 'Dad's Bad Ride.' Lol, It made me think of our own childhood & of course the children beneath us...moments marked forever, indeed. xoxox
SLB

singleton said...

no.....scribble these moments in permanent marker safely within your heart, time flips by at a furious pace, gaining speed with age....and they're only little once....after that they drive cars!
I'll be boppin' by the weddin' festivities soon....Is it bring your own shine?

mindy....time does that to all of us....me, too, in leaps and bounds. Peace girl, I enjoyed the tunes blowin' over from your porch.....on the winds of time....

maithri....I wish we all could find something to celebrate everyday, that no soul is left without at least that, some little thing to laugh for, to get high on...to give birth to hope! Thank you for the wonderful wishes and for the window.....we all need to see through.....

scott....unbelievable!

Peace~love my friends

singleton said...

Eric.....Me, too! I hate to admit that I still worry, but I do.....I mean, I was a kid once too, as recently as recently! Clinkin' ya right back!

Sweet SLB....Don't you love it when you see things like that? True proof that kids are kids and that a Dad or Mom, even in the discovering, probably laughed and put the key in the ignition without a second thought.....without making them scrub it off right away....probably wishing in some small way, those little fingerprints and fingerpaints could stay smeared right there forever......
Love grows.....and it shows!ILYSVVM

Peace~love~smiles

Beerspitnight said...

Righteous for sure!
Clink!

eric1313 said...

"as recently as recently"

nice!

singleton said...

beerspit....we got the clinkin' goin' on!

Eric....as very recently!

Peace~love boys! Clink!

eric1313 said...

Posting right now! I'll be back!

wanna color?

singleton said...

Eric...Whatcha doin' boy?

singleton said...

Eric...Just did the same, over at Peace, but it was a spit-it-out, gotta get it out of my system, my house, off my clipboard, set it free....And I think that's the first, that I've ever let fly something I didn't believe in, couldn't finish, but was compelled to complete...couldn't move on until it was cast....

I'm watching now....
waiting...
to read....

you're going...
editing...
coloring...
And I clink! you, my friend

eric1313 said...

I'm back!

Over at 'peace? Really? You're a better artist than most, even when you're sleeping!

I'll bet it's just fine.

singleton said...

i just read it, and no matter how you intended it, i saw it......
poignant and raw
and
pointblank
and
honestly much like the period, the exclamation mark, the "in parenthesis"
of my day....
And so of course,
I ran away
with one line.......

eric1313 said...

Run with that one line, no problem.

Sorry if you thought it was something else. It was about someone who also was an artist and a young writer. It was about the denial I was in at the time, denial and wanting to not believe she was just mean and sometimes violent; I thought she'd never have a reason to be that way if I was kind enough to her. But she wouldn't talk about what made her so angry on the inside.

Sorry. The poem was meant to be deceiving, as I deceived myself into thinking I could make it work.

Clink?

eric1313 said...

Hope you're running with the line, even now. When you create, the whole world stands still.

I was worried about where you went, at first. I was like, "oh no, Sing's upset..." I hope not!

You're a butterfly...
you are free.

You write every line
like a canvas,
and paint every canvas
like all the sonnets
that Willy Shakespeare
never wrote, but wished
he could have
to spite his mortallity.

Fly on, winged lady
of the deepest blue.

You're free
and that is worth
every line said round
the fire light.

Fly on, blue angel
your wings are golden.

They will last
a thousand years gone
and still carry
enchanted eyes
to the sea.

Crashdummie said...

congrats.. :)

singleton said...

Eric... Smile! It's all good. As I said earlier, that one line.... kind of like the punch-you-in-the-stomach kind.....And yes, it was profound, because so many times we la-de-dah ourselves into believing anything, but what is right there in front of us, and if we even see that, we la-de-dah ourselves into thinking we can fix it, or worse yet, taking the blame......
I got you!
Clink!

crash....TY! Festive times for the young!

Lola Starr said...

I love the drawing and I love the idea of being able to capture memories like that on paper. :)

Chris Benjamin said...

I LOVE how you can capture a moment, in both words and visual art.

I'm ever awed by the speed of the passage of time, how fast memories are made, and change slips into our lives.

SpongyBones said...

Awwwww don't worry sounds like you will soon have grand little ones to draw!

eric1313 said...

pssst...

'peace was in my mail box today, along with the best little trinkets. She's amazing to behold in my very hands.

A giant TY to you, friend. BY the way, everyone was awed by our poems we wrote back and fourth at the treehouse.

You didn't see? Ahhhh... You'll have a surprise, my friend. That's why I was worried. I thought you were flying with me there, then the silence...

Glad to know you know.
Peace~Love

singleton said...

karma...TY, sometimes in the saving, we also save some tiny part of the magic....some things pass by us again, in different shapes, with different faces at different times, and then there are those moments....that never come our way again.....Clinking! to all behind us, and all yet to come!

Benji....It's crazy, Father Time has gone wild on us, scooching us along at roller coaster speeds....

spongy....ahhh, and I do! And I have! The golden babies! Priceless. Precious. And that would make me....."Mimi"! with a long long southern drawl!

Eric....awwww, I'm so glad she made it there safe and sound, I always kind of fret over them when they're flittin' around by themselves! And sorry about last night, I had to jump off the earth in a hurry, wayward boys tumbling home and I was pulling a "ssshhhhhhh, Mom's sleeping" moment.....:) It's called peace in the wee hours!
pssssstttt......here's to the cowboy hats!

Peace~love my friends.......

Me said...

That drawing is simply beautiful.

singleton said...

orhan...thank you sweetie, it was a simply beautiful Saturday a long, long time ago!
Much love