Saturday, August 28, 2004

Reptilian Boots

My only child turns 18 today. A daughter. She wanted black, Italian patent leather boots, with extraordinarily long pointed toes. Possessing a strongly reptilian quality. I obliged. I like them. They're fantastic. I liked their pricetag too: $112 reduced from $360. I got off lightly I reckon. She got what she wanted. Sometimes life is surprisingly simple.

My own private choice of gift was a book. Fanny Flagg's Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. Recently, this child of mine has been exhibiting a powerful tendency towards literary nourishment. All those wonderful hours and hours spent reading to her as a child (the hopeful fostering of a love for reading) are finally bearing fruit. And oh how happy I feel to encourage such a pursuit.

Suddenly, parenthood is revealing itself as a treasure; un-muddied by the painful, complex angst that fed such writings as:

daughter

don't worry, you say
as if this strange familiar
were simply
an 'I do it' three-year-old
struggling with the laces of her shoes,
muttering juvenile expletives,
eschewing my help.

24/8/00

3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

GIdday. back at the office the stream of consciousness blog waiting for me. Unknown until I opened my computer. To the others on my "cloverleaf pattern" of desks it sounds like I am hard at work! Just sorted out a spat between one theatre group and a school over who gets the sign outside Corbans. You know who I am I am sure. I had Louie with me who missed her bus and we sorted it all out after cheese scone and cherry muffin. She complained that Daddy doesn't make good food. Oh dear, is this rot? A tui outside is calling...

9:53 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Kahili Gibran, speaking on children said,
Your children are not your children, they are the sons & daughters of lifes longing for itself.
They come through you, but not from you..........

If only we could all remember that, maybe there would be happier families.

Well done Adagio on raising your child successfully.
May she meet head on all the challenges life will throw at her.

6:57 am  
Blogger Chris Koehn said...

Dear Adiago- Thanks for your kind comments about my blog (a world to which I am new and I word I also dislike.. but it is somehow easy to rember..)
I enjoy your prose and appreciate the topic and tone. I am imagining summer just beginning for you, while ours is just beginning to end. Time for us to hook up the Airstream and begin our journey toward warmth. I'll look forward to learning more about what the wind's knowledge shares with you along the way.

Best,

Chris

1:13 am  

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