Dandelion Heads
(A post dedicated to CNN. I'm quitting you. You're more depressing than watching "Pimp My Ride" on the day your car dies.)
I remember running around my Grandparents' yard with my cousin. I was eight or nine. She was eleven. We ate chives and raspberries plucked from the garden out back and pretended we were Indians. We chased each other in dizzying circles, ripping dandelions from the ground. The sticky flower juices flowed over our fingers like glue. We'd hold the flower heads up to our chins. If it turned your skin yellow, you liked butter. No one ever explained how that was relevant. But we all knew it was true.
Sometimes the flowers would end up in garlands or crowns, weaved together in messy ropes. Most times they'd meet their end by decapitation, a game that left us in a fit of wicked giggles. "Momma had a baby and its head popped off!" Popped off. Who teaches an eight year old that? It was probably the same person who taught me the "Ms. Suzy" songs. "Ms. Suzy had a steamboat. The steamboat had a bell. The steamboat went to heaven. Ms. Suzy went to HELL-o operator. Please give me number nine. And if you disconnect me, I'll kick your fat behind..." My Grandma (a psychologist) was convinced my Father had created those songs as a way of getting back at my Mother.
I remember the childhood feeling of being taken care of. Back in the day when my Mother's leg was a shield for all disasters, I knew no fear too great for her to handle. The world was a safe place to be. Babies heads didn't really come off. Believing in something was all it took to make it happen. The key to saving the Earth was recycling. War was something that happened a long long time ago. Love was always enough. Money came in abundance to those who truly needed it. Santa, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy visited ALL children, not just the ones who could afford them.
And then I grew up...
Somedays I imagine we're all dandelions.
A bunch of flowers in God's hands.
Waiting for that moment we lose our heads.
Tomorrow: Weekend Recap, WWC pictures, and catching up on comments/blogs... A much happier and uplifting post!
Labels: People/Life, Wit and Quips
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20 comments
20 Comments:
I know what you mean. These days I'm feeling like I already lost mine :o)
But the great thing about Dandelions is that each head has hundreds of seeds and they always come back. Hang in there!
whoa....
Sometimes growing up sucks but then you learn to be strong and be the one that a toddler clings to when there is a stranger at the door and life goes on.
The world will be okay. We humans may have a tough time, but this old planet will be here long after we're not. Stop worrying!
I have an idea what might have inspired this post? or at least it related to a recent CNN moment for me too. I'd also like to say that I did as requested in your last post. I delurked (albeit privately) and told you exactly what I thought of you! GO ME!
My daughter's head doesn't come off...at least, not at a speed I can see with the naked eye...but it does turn all sorts of purples, blues, and reds and spin around with her eyes bugging out, spewing flames from her mouth. For whatever that's worth.
(And please tell me CNN didn't show the video of what you're speaking of...)
{{{{Tink}}}}
IMO, the world is like the balance of yin and yang. Would we really appreciate the dandelion moments if the war moments didn't happen?
Love is always enough :-)
"Love is the strongest force the world possesses, and
yet it is the humblest imaginable."
~~~Mahatma Gandhi
"If you have fear of some pain or suffering, you should examine whether there is anything you can do about it. If you can, there is no need to worry about it; if you cannot do anything, then there is also no need to worry."--His Holiness the Dalai Lama
"I find hope in the darkest of days, and focus in the brightest. I do not judge the universe."--His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Sit down and watch I <3 Huckabees.
Um...er...*insert witty and intelligent words of encouragement here*
I suck.
Tink, I could relate to this very much. Sometimes it seems like there isn't much good in the world, but then I visit a blog like yours and I remember there really ARE good people out there still...
just remember that for every person who snatches a child, there are more than a million who would give their lives to save one.
think about "children of men." it's true. we love children so much that if we didn't have them we'd lose our humanity. i guess that's why it bothers everybody so much.
e+
just remember that for every person who snatches a child, there are more than a million who would give their lives to save one.
think about "children of men." it's true. we love children so much that if we didn't have them we'd lose our humanity. i guess that's why it bothers everybody so much.
e+
*hug* Very eloquently put, Tink...
You are a poet and the rest of us know it. Do you?
a heartfelt post.
How do you make a dandelion garland? I have been trying my whole life and they never actually stuck together. out here in Seattle the "dandelions" are completely not even dandelions either. I was very upset by this. They call some other yellow flower a dandelion and pretend like that's good enough.
Chin up, sister! We're bound to pull through with our super-blogging powers and ultimate kung-fu skillz. You have connected to all of us in an amazing way which means you are an amazing person and I'm thrilled to have found you out there somehow.
Another post of poignant beauty, Tink.
'Course, in my day, war was hardly a thing that happened long, long ago. Guns 'n' butter, Viet Nam death tolls on the evening news. Hovering over my early childhood was the spectre of the draft and the knowledge that when I got old enough, I would be shipped off to be blown apart by a grenade or to be impaled on some Viet Cong booby trap. The war had been going on for as long as I'd been able to remember, and I just assumed it would still be going on when I turned 18.
Maybe that's part of why I'm such a pessimistic, morbid little shit.
Anyway, if I'm a dandelion, I'm here to prove that everyone likes butter--though unless you're willing to rub me under your chin, you'll bloody well have to take my word for it, won't you?
Speaking of nihilistic childhood rhymes...
William in a brand new sash
Fell in the fire and burned to ash
And now, although the room grows chilly
I haven't the heart to poke poor Willie
P.S. - I forgot to mention that we pulled out of Viet Nam in '73, so I didn't have to go. I dodged that bullet, quite literally.
You just opened a floodgate of primary school memories for me. I so remember the Miss Suzy song...although we called her Miss Molly and there was much more to the song. And I remember ALL. OF. IT. LOL!
Did you ever sing Miss Sue? Miss Sue? Miss Sue from Alabama? Sittin' in a rocker, eatin' Betty Crocker...
I used to do that with Dandelion heads, too. Ah, to be young again...
I see that CNN has depressed you...please do give it up. No news is good news when you are watching TV. I stay away from it for the most part; it depresses me too.
Blogger wouldn't let me comment yesterday when I wanted too.
Very beautiful and heartfelt post. Your writing is so expressive and vivid.
Wonderful post Tink. I just loved it. You have a gift with words. You really do.
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