7/21/19:Olivia gives lessons.

We had a very nice gathering at the Front Porch Library after an unexpected week off (my husband Ray was in the hospital with Lyme).
 
In honor of the 50th anniversary of the moon landing, we read a brief history of astronomy and the space race (we felt bad about the dogs who went into space and didn’t come back).
 
Emonie joined us for the first time and Brianna returned after a long absence. With Klark and Olivia we had a small but friendly group. Thanks to our neighbor Miss Karen, we had a huge spread of crossword puzzles for kids from the New York Times. We opened the page on one of our card tables and went to work. Although the puzzle guys at the Times don’t think exactly like we do, we did pretty well.
 
Then we took turns hiding plastic fruit in the yard and razzing each other for being so blind. “You’re warm! You’re hot! You’re burning!”
 
After that we broke out the art supplies. Olivia gave lessons on drawing eyes. Emonie and Brianna were super-impressed. “On the a-mazing scale you are a 1,000 plus!” 
 
We never got around to the big project I had planned, which was designing a town, but there is always next week. Always.
 
Another fine day at the Front Porch Library.

7/7/19: The return of Vivienne.

Small library gathering–but great! Vivienne, one of our kids of yesteryear who moved to North Carolina, came back! She’s moved back to Tallahassee and will be rejoining us as part of team library.
 
She and Klark, who were great friends when they were next door neighbors, took up right where they left off–which meant digging up a brick that was flush with the ground in the yard, giving it a face (even ears) and naming it Fredbrick. Fred had a bed, and a dinner made of very nice weeds, a plastic egg, and melty beads (rice). Vivienne’s dad, Alex, suddenly found himself a grandfather. Since I was a grandmother we took Fredbrick to meet his other grandfather, Ray.
 
Aside from turning a brick into a close relative, we wrote notes to ourselves to be read when we celebrate the 11th birthday of the library. Randi, who brought over her sheltie, Nike, wrote herself a note too. We asked ourselves questions to be answered a year from now, recorded our hopes–then we put them in the chicken cookie jar and I stood on the stool and put the chicken back on a high shelf. Vivienne made a sign I propped against the chicken so I could remember where we put the notes–it was suggested that I might need a sign by the sink that said, look up, but I promised to do that from time to time without prompting.
 
I so miss the kids who leave the library due to relocation or aging into coolness, and Vivienne is one of the kids I have missed the most. And now she’s back! Yes!

The Library Turns 10!

The library celebrated its 10th birthday last Sunday–we were all so pooped that I didn’t even file a report.
 
As it turned out, it was as much a celebration of neighborhood as the library. We did, of course have the traditional watermelon seed spitting contest, and new records were set by the mother-son team of Connor and Cheryl–they were within inches of each other, both at about 25 feet.
 
It was a great time–and it didn’t even rain!

6/23/19: Getting ready to party!

The library’s 10th birthday party is just one week away. So what did we do? We fired up the oven and baked more chocolate chip cookies. Olivia did the work–I was the one who failed to tell her I had put enough butter in the bowl for a double recipe. Just let me say that double butter creates some mighty puddley cookies.
 
Klark buttered garlic bread, I wrapped the bread in foil. We baked a lot of cookies and slathered potentially crunchy bread. So far so good. Cyrus and Ilex joined the group–we had to sample the very buttery, flat cookies. Darn, they were good.
 
We made ice cream sandwiches using last week’s cookie production (FPL birthdays are famous for their giant homemade ice cream sandwiches). The kitchen a disaster, the kids took our fliers: “Come one, come all” and hung them on mailbox flags around the neighborhood while I cleaned up ground zero (the kitchen). They came back truly sweaty.
 
That called for donuts and ice water, and for some reason, improvisation with some play money that found itself convincing enough that it felt obligated to say NOT LEGAL TENDER on each bill. Somehow, Klark ended up with a fake five dollar bill stuck to his forehead. Klark is an improviser. Last week he stapled his cream-cheese bagel. These kids are the best! (And never dull).
 
The donuts are gone, the freezers are getting full–now to round up tables, chairs, etc., etc.–and pray for not-rain.
 
The FPL is about to turn 10, woo-hoo!

6/16/19:A laid back day at the FPL.

Last week we cancelled library because Ray and I were in cool and comfortable New Jersey visiting family, but we were on again this week.
 
Mr. John was, once again, in the kitchen, this time turning some really sorry pears into pear sauce (at the food bank we try not to waste a darned thing–what can’t be cooked is composted).
 
Library was slow and quiet. Olivia had just had a blow-out thirteenth birthday and she was bushed. We played a word game, read, and walked invitations to the tenth birthday of the library around the neighborhood–no one was much into it–this is not cool and comfortable New Jersey after all, but we will get all the invites draped over mailbox flags before the big gathering on the 30th.
 
Our old neighbor, Sally Barrios, dropped in and played a round of the word game. Like me she was whupped by Klark and Olivia.
 
A quiet day at the library–just what the doctor ordered.

5/26/19: The Big Stink.

We soldiered on at the Front Porch Library, preparing for our big tenth birthday. Soldiering on meant forcing ourselves out into the driveway blinking, having gassed ourselves with onion fumes. Only Mr. John remained at the stove (he wears glasses, which might have helped, or maybe he is just a tough customer).
 
We now have beaucoup de meat sauce on its way to freezing in our cold room, and a stack of decorative hang tags for our “Messages about the neighborhood” project.
 
We also baked banana bread–which we ate–so don’t expect it at the birthday bash.
 
A quiet, aromatic, productive day at the FPL.

5/19/19 Party planning

I was too darned pooped to write the Front Porch Library report last night, so here it is. We continued with our preparations for the Library’s 10th birthday party–which meant getting down to brass tacks and picking a date (June 30th). Having picked that date, we were quite relieved–whew, plenty of time–and then we went on making the beautiful hang-tags that will be part of the “Neighborhood Notes,” project. The idea is that neighbors who come to the dinner will write a note to or about our neighborhood and we will hang them on a tree (we hang almost everything on a tree, a hedge, a bush).
 
We looked around and decided that we might want to clean up the place (and by that I mean organize) before the gathering–after all, we have plenty of time. We always set the food out inside making it necessary to have clear surfaces to set stuff out on.
 
Meanwhile, in the kitchen John was enacting the sauce-making ritual, “Double, double, toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble.” As I write this the cauldrons have moved across the street to my stove where they continue to spit and bubble.
 
Olivia dutifully wrote down a list of everything we have to do between now and the party. Now, where did I put that list…
 
A tiring, but mighty fine day at the FPL.

5/12/19:Sauce and Book Reviews.

A rainy Mother’s Day and the mad master of Front Porch Library saucification, Mr. John, was in the kitchen turning tomatoes that were too squishy for anything but into sauce for the library’s upcoming 10th birthday when the neighborhood will gather for a giant community meal. Three pots steamed on the stove, knives flashed.
 
In the living room we opened the box of books from Jennifer Brown DeCuir. Jenny is one of the forces behind Authors in April in Rochester, Michigan–she always sends us her extras.
 
We spread them out on the floor and made hypotheses based on the covers, chose the books that appealed to us then read the opening pages to each other–we were living room floor book critics. Thanks Jenny!
 
We began making decorations for the library’s birthday dinner. It was grey and windy out, but we had a fine time, one that smelled like tomatoes. Definitely.

4/28/19:Tomatoes!

We began cooking for the Front Porch Library’s 10th birthday–we always throw a neighborhood dinner for the birthday.
 
In the absence of Mr. John, our usual master chef, we peeled frozen tomatoes (Olivia also peeled her finger in an unfortunate encounter with a knife). Abby and Alex froze their hands–the floor I had just washed caught a lot of drippage.
 
We chopped peppers and the defrosting, skinless tomatoes–there are still three pots bubbling on the stove, cooking down. Covering a kitchen in thin tomato juice took most of our time, but Randi Cohen brought her dog Nike over to entertain us with her incredible obedience (Randi is an ace dog trainer).
 
Then it was back into the kitchen with us, except for Klark. Someone (fess up whoever did it) sent us a thousand piece puzzle of the state birds and flowers and Klark began separating border pieces from inside pieces.
 
Then we all ate pound cake and strawberries, and Donna Elliott came in with a load from Lucky’s for the food pantry. So many bananas!
 
It was definitely a food-themed day at the FPL. What could be finer?

4/14/19:Happy 81!

Kelby came by the Front Porch Library early–I think boredom was involved. We decorated the weekly cake (chocolate cake, green and blue icing–many, many sprinkles). We really went to town.
 
He decorated with the understanding we would tell Olivia he knew nothing, nothing about who had decorated the cake–that is usually her territory.
 
When library officially started we continued with our brain/memory quest. I showed a tray of ten items for thirty seconds and the kids had to list what they saw. Among them they remembered the ten, but no one got all ten. So, score one for the collective brain.
 
We went on with our Easter bag decorating project, then cut a slice of that sprinkle-bumpy cake, put candles on it, blew up balloons and broke out the noise makers. Our neighbor, Miss Liz, turned 81 yesterday. We practiced tooting our noise makers all the way over. We stood on the grass trying to light the candles, then read the sign on her door: Oxygen in Use, no open flames. Oh. We quit trying to light the candles and settled for a noise maker salute. We sat with her for a while, put a plate of cake in front of her and found her oxygen tubes. She seemed pleased that we were making noise in celebration of her long life.
 
We blew the noise makers on the way back to the library for good measure, then played two rounds of Concentration and then we headed for home.
 
Another noisy, sprinkle-heavy day at the FPL.

4/7/19: The Best Day of the Week.

We started library with another quick game of concentration. Klark blew us all away. That boy can concentrate!
The main activity was getting ready for the Easter party our neighbor Mrs. Harper always throws, an egg hunt for the neighborhood kids. Thanks to Miss Jennifer and her endless supply of craft materials, we decorated bags for all the booty everyone will find in the grass.
And while we cut out shiny paper eggs to glue on the bags, tied ribbons on for handles, we talked about things like the thinking behind paying taxes, what we would do with great wealth, and then we debated which was the best day of the week.
Sometimes we just keep our hands busy while we discuss the big issues. Having agreed to disagree on the best day of the week, we packed up all the sparkles, sprinkles, glue sticks, paper bags–we will take up production again next week. Before then each of us will enjoy their favorite day–and then it will be Sunday. The tables will be set up, glue sticks put out in easy reach and we’ll talk about…who knows what…but it will be interesting.
Another artistic, philosophical day at the Front Porch Library.

3/31/19: Almost Use Your Head Day.

We were a small gathering at the library. It was supposed to be use-your-head day, but heck, we can use our heads some other time. We did play a game of Concentration and I discovered that I have no concentration. Short term memory? What short term memory?
 
We made an elaborate “Ouch–get well” card for Mr. John who was in a car wreck last Sunday. We made small books (well the covers anyway) to put inside the card. John is the hero (make that Sisyphus) who tries to cook all the tomatoes that are about to go south in the pantry so one of the book covers was “How To Cook Tomatoes.”
 
We made banana bread and the girls discussed guys, high heels, being thirteen. We packed a box of food for one of our drop-off ladies. The clear blue day turned cold and gray and we all went home.
 
A nice quiet day at the FPL. We will use our heads next Sunday.

March 10, 2019 Sense Day

It was “sense” day at the FPL. No, not common sense day, but sense day as in those handy inputs that provide the interface between us and the world. We began with two pillow cases filled with objects. By feel, from the outside of the bag, each person had to name something that was in the bag.
 
Then we shut our eyes and listened. Unfortunately, the refrigerator that still, unfortunately, resides in the living room for lack of space in the cold room was so loud that it was hard to hear anything else. So we went outside and sat at the big folding table, closed our eyes and listened again.
 
We heard a lot more–and had opinions on what we heard. Why was the guy next door running his car engine while going nowhere? We heard prolonged, drone sounds like that car engine, and the intermittent sounds,, like conversations, “I think that’s Penny’s voice…,” the bark of a dog, a bird song. Sitting with closed eyes and listening is more fun than you would think.
 
Smell was kind of elusive. We smelled the roses–Alex said she didn’t really like the smell of roses.
 
We then went over to good old sight–or observation as we in the senses business call it. We found patches of flowers to watch for insect activity. We found a couple of honey bees working the flowers and lizards blending in with the leaves, and a spider or two–which prompted a debate between the spider lovers and the spider haters.
 
Having covered the senses (we did taste later when we made ice cream sandwiches and ate them), we went to work on collages. Olivia, Alex and Abby discussed boys and things that streamed on various devices. I listened like a visitor from another planet (although I vaguely remember boys). Klark was pretty quiet too.
 
In the kitchen, Mr. John was toiling with the glut of frozen tomatoes of which we have a whole stand-up freezer. He had a cauldron-full boiling. (sight: red, sound: bubbling-belch, smell: tomatoey, taste: too thin, touch: too hot).
 
In conclusion I must add that Olivia got a killer haircut. It is still so new that she kept swishing her fingers through it, and surprised herself when she looked in the bathroom mirror.
 
Another good-looking (smelling, tasting, feeling, sounding) day at the FPL.

March 3, 2019 Art and Science.

Library was small, but still interesting. Mr. John attacked the boundless supply of frozen tomatoes, cooking some down–“a drop in the bucket,” he said. This is what happens when your goal is to waste nothing.
 
Meanwhile, we had a new FPL kid, Liam (AKA Spiderman), a precocious four-year-old–he must be precocious to do all those Spidey things. And Klark and Olivia–a small group, but we did some interesting things.
 
The science experiments went on. We checked out water surface tension. It’s true, you can over-fill a glass and watch the water bulge. We also considered friction, sliding an ice cube and a wooden block to see which would go further. Of course the ice cube should have gone further, but science must hate me. The block won two out of three times.
 
Then we moved on to art, a more reliable endeavor. I had cut out segments of magazine photos and glued them to tag board. Each of us drew the rest of the image in any way we chose. Klark started with a woman sitting on a dock and ended up with a woman sitting on a dock being threatened by a giant otter. Olivia put her little kid in a bunny hat on stage. I improved the dog head by dressing the dog in a natty suit and straw hat. Liam glued many stickers to his photo.
 
Then the delivery from Lucky’s rolled up. Holy cow! Three cases of avacadoes–and that ain’t all. We all sorted and unpacked. And then the sky got threatening and dark and everyone walked home really fast.
 
We always have fun at the FPL. Yup, we sure do.

February 24, 2019 Conspiracy Day!

I have Kelby to thank for the main activity at the Front Porch Library today. He came to the food distribution last night and asked, “What are we doing at library tomorrow?” I told him I didn’t know yet. He said we should talk about conspiracy theories. He then went on to tell me one of his.
 
“Did you ever notice at pizza places that sometimes the edges of the pieces don’t really line up? That’s because they take the uneaten slices of pizza left on the table and assemble them into new pizzas….” Hmm, think about it.
 
That sent me into the dark corners of the internet. So, we began our discussion by talking about conspiracy theories that are widely held, but dubious, like the illuminati, the group that really rules the world, or the fact the FDA and the pharmaceutical companies are hiding the fact the cure for cancer exists, or the fact the moon landing was faked.
 
In order to be fair and balanced we looked at conspiracy theories that were true, like the fact that during Prohibition the government actually did poison alcohol, or that at least technically we have had a female president (after Wilson had a stroke his wife made all the presidential decisions for more than a year), and that, yes, the FBI did spy on John Lennon.
 
Then I had a list of topics about which we could make our own theories. Dogs? Another form of human (Olivia’s theory). They are smart, sympathetic, they prefer our company to that of other dogs. The number eight is the endless number–turn it on its side and it is the symbol for infinity. Mosquito bites are the way tracking devices are implanted–just look for the little red spot where the bite occurred–those tracking devices are tiny. Instant mashed potatoes? There are no potatoes involved. We sat in a circle like the bunch of conspirators we were.
 
We had a new boy, Adrian, we share that great name. He is four. He was more interested in the gravel in the driveway than conspiracy theories.
 
We also did two experiments about locating the center of gravity. My favorite involved balancing a yard stick on a glass, then putting something on one end and sliding the ruler until the new center of gravity was found.
 
We had a fine old time at the FPL. Devil’s food cake too.