Friday Five: Word Associations

Songbird, who blogs at Reflectionary, just got back from a most excellent vacation. Today, as host of RevGalBlogPals Friday Five, she foldly remembers five words from that vacation and invites us to play "Word Association"!  Great idea!  Here are those words, with the first word that came to my mind: 

1) Airport - adventure

2) Baseball - Rangers

3) Art - children

4) Chocolate - heaven

5) Grill - party

Bonus: Tell us a story that comes to mind based on one of the word pairs.

ART - CHILDREN:  In my family of origin, there was not much emphasis on art.  We were all about the academics (dad was a high school principal, mom an English teacher) and I graduated from college as a science major, to become a med tech not a pastor, and thinking of "art" as an exotic thing for people who are not like me.

And then there were children!  I was blessed to be able to be a stay-at-home mom of three.  A most excellent thing about these children were that they were very responsive to play of all kinds.  Because it seemed like a fun thing to do, I kept an abundance of art supplies in the house, and on any given day, we were playing with play dough or finger painting or decorating the patio with sidewalk chalk.  My role was mostly the boundary-setter, encourager / art appreciator and cleaner-upper leader.

One day, I found the older two (at about ages 6 and 5) underneath the dining room table, painting the underside, Sistine Chapel style, with two bottles of White-Out liquid paper and the little brushes that come with it.

They are all grown up now, and all three are uniquely gifted artists and art savvy beyond what I ever could have imagined.  All are gifted writers.  All are culturally literate beyond my leading.  One is a beautiful dancer and draws; one is a writer by vocation (and does things that combine math and art!); and one has a great blog, crochets, and creates in the kitchen. 

I still keep art supplies handy, for any children who happen along and also for me.  Sometimes a girl just needs to get out the crayons or the water colors and have some fun!

Lead us from death to life ...

Sabbatical leave is over with and I am on my way back from wonderful Louisiana to my pastor life in beautiful Northeast Pennsylvania. Leaving Baton Rouge on Sunday, I spent that day and night in Biloxi, Mississippi with my sis and my mom before going on my way. Dayton Scoggins, chainsaw artist, has made art out of some dead trees along the Gulf Coast down there. In the background are distressed trees bravely leafed out, surrounded by vacant lots that were once (B.K. -- Before Katrina) thriving businesses in prime coastal real estate.

The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is very real. I saw lots full of empty FEMA trailers and "camps" of people in FEMA trailers and camping vehicles. I heard Louisiana residents disgusted at the amounts of Federal money "squandered by Louisiana graft and corruption" even though most of the waste has been by the Federal government. I also heard about many people still displaced, suffering or otherwise affected by Katrina, two years later.

I do hope, with the chainsaw artist, that something beautiful eventually will be crafted from what Katrina has wrought.