Ahhhh! Spring!

I will tell you since our move I have loved life much more thoroughly than I did in Arizona. Truely I did live in Arizona and I did accept life there but I remember as a child pretending I lived somewhere else and when we would back east or really anywhere that had trees, grass and even a small amount of humidity that meant thriving plants, flowers and trees I was so much happier. That was where my heart lived. Arizona does have green but it's not the same. The natural order of things in Arizona is desert... that is truely the way it's supposed to be. Those with green lawns and a larger amount of fauna and flora had to rob the water table to keep it so. The desert can be beautiful and the spring has it's own natural mystery and beauty it's just didn't reach the depth of my soul like it does here. This is home.

I must say before I continue my ode to the joy of spring that this last winter was very trying. A large part of it was that we really did not get that much snow (which really is what makes winter). There was too much ice and slush and cold rain. I was working to keep our heating bills down so I kept the thermostat at around 60 - 65 but I still paid high bills (well the darn rates went up and I will tell you it's highway robbery to be cold and pay between 300 and 600 in heating bills a month. My brain seems to shut down. A bear-like trait of hybernation of the senses. I couldn't think and I ran out of energy to generate creative ways to survive the cold. I found myself just waiting on the spring. Soooo...

Well it's spring! Yippppppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! The flowers are blooming. It is between 40 and 70 outside. Wonderful to breathe in the lovely scent of life blossoming in the air. My brain has thawed out and I'm again alive with it all. My sense are awake... I can see everything in bloom, feel the warmth, touch the live movable earth (planting flowers), smell the fragrant blossoms and even hear the birds, wind and lawnmowers. It's all music to my soul. I can hardly wait for the farmers markets to open back up. I will dig out all my shorts and feel the sun on my skin again with the touch of dew and beauty of warm days that move to cool nights where we can bbq and enjoy the summer evenings outside. Then come the fire flys! Whoa! The beauty that inspires! I'm just in love with it all... it was worth waiting for. I will tend my garden, pour mulch in my flower beds, mow the lawn and pull weeds as they come up so I can feel and touch the earth some more. The parks are everywhere waiting for the kids to play all we need to do is decide which one to go to. How special we feel to be part of all this.

My 7 year old is a joy to watch. She found her first caterpiller this last week. She has made dozens of bouquets of dandylion flowers, picked buckets of purple wildflowers and dug in the brown earth to find more life that lives deeper in the soil. I learn from her as I watch her cherish the living earth. She has danced in the rain (well she danced in the snow too although there wasn't much of it). She can't seem to get enough of it. I'm in awe of her.

So off we go to revel in the spring and begin our long summer of joy!

Martian Child

I read the book back in 2005 I think it was. Possibly 2004? I was at a 2nd hand bookstore and the adoption section was right next to the kids books (how convenient!). As my two daughters sat and read I went and explored. The book "Martian Child" jumped out at me. I started reading it as I sat in the kids section. At that point we were on the way to being foster parents and adopting but as of yet had not gotten all of our paperwork through the bureaucracy. I was trying to avoid "points of view" that colored foster parenting with a negative hue. I so believe that it's important to know all you can know but at the same time I believe it's important to go into things with some positive truth from the heart. Up to this point I had had my fill of the negative.

So there I was carefully reading this book and I couldn't put it down. David's writing held me captive although there was one chapter I struggled with. It likely was my difficulty in understanding the depth of what was going on from my inexperienced point of view. His metaphor and meaning hit me deeply. He had a sense of humour and a grasp on life renewed through adoption. He was unfailing in his love but true to the depth of his frustrations.

I was disappointed though in the movie. I don't think it did justice to the book or the subject matter. I adore John Cusack and Joan Cusack... Bobby Coleman, the child star in the movie did a superb job. All are very talented and I was inspired by the movie at times but overall it disappointed. Now as a foster parent, foster/adopt parent and a continuing advocate of fostering I thought it left too much open and unexplained for those who don't know what it is like. The story line was changed possibly because society isn't ready for the truth (sadly enough!). While the truth may have muddied the waters of what this was really about there were some parts of the book that needed to be explored more thoroughly. The issue of family needs to be challenged though overall so I think the truth needs to be told more fully or not modified to such an extent that it's so politically correct. Where was the wonderful Jewish grandmother? Far too many of the struggles were watered down and the joys not explored enough. "Somewhere" was not given his rightful role. He was such an important part of things, the four legged peacemaker. Moreso Dennis was so much more real and less Martian in the book although yes, this was his deep cover and a hugely intelligent cover at that which the movie did explore. I just wanted more of the human endeavors that were shown in the book.

I recommend the book be read first and then watch the movie on DVD. After it is over watch the special features so you can see the Author and Dennis in real life. And then see how the movie was made and the inspiration in how it was made. I think going beyond the movie into the world of parenthood and childhood by seeing how Bobby was discovered and how he so courageously took on this role gave more meaning to the movie. Children are so under rated in our society... so under appreciated for what they are. So in the end I think it is important to see this movie then dig a bit deeper and find inspiration in the special features grasp a bit more of what it's all about.