My Mother's Day

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a glorious Mother's Day weekend.

I, for one, did. After church Tim and the kids took me to the beach, which is only about an hour from our house but we had never been. It was a balmy-for-England 75 degrees, and the British take full advantage of whatever sun the Good Lord allows to shine on them. There were many swimsuit-clad people on that beautiful beach, even though it was rather chilly. S from church told me that the Brits pull out all the stops when it gets warm because they never know when it will be warm again.

We let the kids play in the water, and Zach did what he does best: got naked ASAP! If ever one of my kids becomes a nudist, it will be him. He topped off the whole au naturale experience with a pee in the North Sea. Ah, the joys of childhood.

At The Smuggler's Cave I came across some wood carvings from Indonesia. I've seen work like this before but this time it caught my fancy and I was hooked. I bought The Lovers. Here it is from all sides:

But my favorite was the one that seemed appropriate for Mother's Day. Here she is in all her glory:

According to the salesclerk, this is an East Asian interpretation of Western women. I'm not sure if they think we're all naturally endowed like this, or if they think we all get augmentation surgery! I am going to find a small piece of cloth and tie it over her bosom so as not to offend my children's moral sensibilities. I think she's really has my teenage son uncomfortable.

One thing I loved about this sculpture is that the mother is either dark or fair depending on which side you look at. She's a representation of not only motherhood, but all mothers the world over. I'm tired of hearing race brought up, especially in the current election campaign. This sculpture is refreshing to me; it acknowledges color differences without making them an issue. I frankly don't care what color a person's skin is; we are all made in God's image. It's one of the most ridiculous things imaginable, if you really think about it, that the color of anyone's skin should be a factor in anything.

While at The Smuggler's Cave Tim bought another didgeridoo. He's fascinated with them, as well as African bongo drums, rain sticks and other odd little instruments made with things like goat toenails and tree nuts! They really are interesting and the kids have a blast with them. Here is a very talented man playing a didgeridoo:



I'm going to find a bra for my Mama sculpture! Cheers!

~Reese