Locked down with my Ukulele 16

These are strange times but some lovely things are still occurring. I wasn’t going to do a blog tonight but it happened and I feel I must acknowledge it.

The kids in the street play together. It’s quite entertaining listening to their banter and squabbling. A couple of the kids are brother and older sister, which add a special dynamic to the rhetoric. It made me laugh when the daughter was playing outside and was talking to her mum last summer.

“Mum can we go to the Zoo this afternoon? If you take us you’ll be the best mum in the world.”

Ever so slight pause.

“Not that you’re not the best mum in the world already!”

Anyway I was finishing working on the computer and I noticed some movement out the front. Two of the girls were standing by the front door. Obviously they had knocked and were waiting for the door to be answered. I went to the front door opened it and said hello. I’m not great at guessing age but they were around ten and they passed a quick glance at each other. Then one of the girls spoke.

I don’t know the names of these kids but since I moved in I have seen them playing in various gardens in the street.

“ You live alone don’t you”.

“Yes” I replied.

“We noticed and we think it’s kind of sad. So we thought you’d like these flowers to cheer you up”

She had a small bunch of wild flowers in her hand and held them out to me. I got her to put them down in the porch and promised to put them in water.

I laughed when she said it was sad I lived alone. In some ways it is but in many ways it’s been easier to distance.

I don’t know what prompted these kids to do this. In amongst the wild flowers they’d put in a sprig of privet making the best of their offering. It was this thought that touched me. What a lovely act of kindness. They noticed and felt compelled to action.

Leisure by William Henry Davies

The action of these kids induced this blog and I’ve had to scan my thoughts for a song to go with this. I would be forcing one to fit as one does not come to mind. But, a poem has.

What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare. No time to stand beneath the boughs And stare as long as sheep or cows. No time to see, when woods we pass, Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass. No time to see, in broad daylight, Streams full of stars, like skies at night. No time to turn at Beauty's glance, And watch her feet, how they can dance. No time to wait till her mouth can Enrich that smile her eyes began. A poor life this if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare.

Stay safe