Close to Nowhere
The times they are a'changing... (Bob Dylan)
Oldest granddaughter Merideth started back to school last week. She's going to The Paul Mitchell School, somewhere in Memphis, Tenn. She's always enjoyed make-up and hair styles and color. I never know or am surprised at whatever current hair color she has. Her younger sister Remy is sporting yellow (not blonde, yellow) hair with leaf green tips. They love it. I'm not so sure about yellow hair myself.
Great-grandson Shepard has started pre-school now that Mom is back in school. He hates it. He's too smart to just be at home; he really needs pre-school, but it makes him so sad that he can't stay home with Mom and Sissie and do fun things. The teachers at the school say he's fine once Mere leaves and he enjoys it.
His first day, he was so excited. He couldn't wait to meet his new friends and show them his blood. He's a boy, he's 3 and a half and he's definitely his Daddy's son, is the only explanation we can come up with on that.
I go to Mere and Tim's house on Tuesdays and spend the day with Sissie (Ruby June, 18 months old). She has turned into a really sassy young lady. Her current favorite words are "Not nice Shepard." Often at the top of her strong lungs.
Last week was my first Tuesday in a while. Mere had been doing online school, so I didn't get to babysit. She was really excited her first day back. And "the times they are a'changing."
She was carrying her school kit and mannequin head, which is mounted on a tripod stand so she can work on the hair (she calls her mannequin head Jane). Jane has really great hair and Mere had her tucked under her arm as she walked out of the school, with the other students, who all had mannequin heads also.
A guy got out of his pickup truck (the only description Mere offered was that he had a beard and it was in a braid) and asked her, very belligerently, why she had a white person's head impaled on a pole and why was she carrying it around. And why was she dressed in all black with a black mask on? (The school uniform is black). He wanted to know what political organization she belonged to and she said he looked ready to fight her. But for some unknown reason, she wasn't scared (not until she was safely locked in her car anyway).
She has no idea why he stopped her instead of any of the other 10 or so students. Maybe she looked the most threatening. She is short, skinny and currently blonde.
Our world has changed so much. Between the black mask because of the pandemic and the white person head on a pole, human relations have become so strange. Racial tension is as frightening as the virus.
I was so pleased that at least our town had a peaceful, productive protest. Human beings can come together.
As long as they're not carrying a head on a pole, I guess.