Bits of Becoming

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse, "it's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."

"Does it hurt?" asked the rabbit.

"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."

"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

-Margery Williams (The Velveteen rabbit)

Hauling out the soft rug for a Mancala marathon on the deck, the playful sound of glass stones, smooth and cool to the touch, dropping into a wood tray while casting colorful shadows that look like tiny turquoise lagoons....

Magic soups, brews and potions of mud and herbs, stirred and steeped on the hot sidewalk, a haunting olfactory combination of basil, mint, chives, and chamomile "to keep away bears"....

















Fairy houses and magic rocks that appear and disappear with mysterious messages left behind in chalk from passersby...

Daily visits from all manor of winged folk...








Refreshing bubbley of orange and lemon...

(bit by bit we are becoming)