GIS Butterfly: Bless the Beasts and the Children

Colors of Autumn

This is my favorite time of year. After the season of Flood and then the season of Fire comes the season of Color. I'm on my 4th week of a 5 week house sitting gig. My friends have been exploring So. America while I have been enjoying the change of the seasons.

I must admit that at times the past two weeks it was merely trying to survive. I had bronchitis kick in after the last fire. My allergies have been taxed by the smoking forests for over two months. Something in the smoke that I have had to breathe put my lungs in distress. I am happy to report the air is clear and my breathing is almost normal.

The other adventure I had was insect bites. Again it seemed that I had so many that I became extremely allergic and resulted in welts that got so large they bruised. I still have bruising that is healing, but no itching for about four days.

Today we honor Christopher Columbus who we learned in school: "Sailed the ocean blue in 1492."

My school district chose to give the students and support staff a day off, while the teachers were stuck in meetings all day. I have been very thankful to have two days off in a row this weekend. (Aug 12th was the last time my schedule allowed me two days off in a row.)

This morning as I checked on my temporary abode it was fun to take pictures of some of the wonderful colors of this season. The high temp. is about 75 to 80 degrees and our nightly cools are in the mid 50's. In my part of the country we may not have a freeze until after New Years.

My Favorites of the the Season

Rusty Mums

Pink Azalea

Bountiful Petunias
flank both sides of the front step

A hidden red geranium

Glories and huge Pomegranates

Tiny ornamental pomegranate by the pond

Happy to see a flower on the citrus

Ducks enjoying the pond

I have enjoyed the little figs
from this potted fig

The best sight this week
Mt Shasta and snow

Bless the Beasts and the Children

Dog's natural water dish

My tiny dancer in her dress I made for her birthday

As I strolled around the yard my Pandora started playing Karen Carpenters 1971 hit song, "Bless the Beasts and the Children". Glendon Swarthout wrote a book by that title that was made into a movie in 1971. My Middle School English teacher read the book to us and it was very disturbing to me. I never hear the song without seeing the final scenes from the book in my mind. The Youtube below has a gentler depiction of what the song can represent and I am glad through the years the disturbing emotions of that reading have faded.

A few weeks ago a group of colleagues were discussing a child who has issues with his emotions. He cries and feel strongly when things don't go his way in a game. He is considered a "cry baby" by his peers and often does not play at recess with other children.

I have been observing this child on my own and I see a child who also feels other emotions very strongly. He is polite to an extreme, he feels compassion for his fellow students and he is very good at the comprehension of what is happening in a story. A colleague had said, "Well, I don't know how that kind of kid would have survived in the 1960's."

I am here to say, "We did." Children and adults were able to say things like, "If you don't stop crying, I will give you something to cry about." We got picked on, in fights, sent to the principle for our unreasonable responses and labeled, "Cry Baby" and worse. Parents might put us in our rooms until we were ready to stop crying and get on with life.

Today I do know as educators we have so many rules. Confidentiality has been so strict, I even have to sign that I will not give answers to tests even if I am not administering the test. Our conduct with students has so many rules I am almost afraid to give a side-ways hug. Everything has to be talked about so much, we feel we may be talked to death. While there is little time to discuss procedures that replace what use to come naturally.

I raised four children to adulthood. By God's grace they are all active contributors to their own community and working on bettering the world. These are children raised by "an abused child" of the 1960's who did survive. I believe my answer was in my faith and hope for a better day. My outlets of music and art have helped to express the pain, by creating song and beauty. I don't know a person who hasn't gone through some hard stuff. What makes the difference is what we do with ourselves after and even during the hard times.

"When I was young I use to listen to the radio, waiting for my favorite songs. When they played I sang along, it made me smile." Those song lyrics are exactly what I did in the 1960's and 70's. On KSUE in Susanville, I listened to all the pop songs. I memorized each word and I sing them still.

From 1980 to 2015 I was in a time of depression and oppression that didn't allow a lot of new material to enter my repertoire. There were church songs and Christian radio songs that I have memorized during that time, but my foundation of pop music from the 1960's and 70's are what comes to mind every day.

Today as I heard the familiar words from Karen Carpenter, I felt the lightness as I view the beauty of our fall flowers and foliage. Beauty from Ashes. Morning to Song.

Bless the Beasts and the Children (1971)