Got your attention, didn't it? It seems to have caught the attention of a lot of people, I tell you. I was talking to Vanessa yesterday, just after the news hit that the suspect for the National News murder, here in Lafayette, is some scrawny little kid with an anger management problem and I could hardly pay attention to what other things we were talking about. Good grief, what an angry kid. He made me think of some of those angry little children that we see on those "Good Lord Get The Nanny" shows on tv, wondering how and why these kids are so pissed off. Well, this town and the Have's/Have Not's mentality of the kids in it is nothing new, I can tell you that. My kids went through it when they were young and transplants from Oakland; the 'Hood as my daughter likes to say. I don't consider Piedmont Avenue (arty, if nothing else) to be the 'Hood for crying out loud. I digress... When my kids moved here they were teased mercilessly for their wardrobes and lack of a toney lifestyle, which was made worse by the location of their school...smack dab in the middle of the millionaire's row. Both kids suffered in their own way and as much as you like to say that living in a town with certain social and economic gaps is normal, it is hard for kids from an artist's family to not feel like weirdos when their friends drive fancy cars and travel the globe as easily as going to the movies. One of my kids got invited along on trips and the other one did not. Ugh. As in everything else in life it is all about who you know. I wonder about This Kid. I know Acalanes High School but I don't know it now. I don't know a lot of the people in this town anymore because so many of the families that were intact when my kids went through school are now split apart and scattered to the four winds. When we go down to Chow for dinner, I look around the room and ask The Husband...Who ARE all of these people? New people. Same problems. More and less money.
When I saw the home that was being built on the hilltop above the rustic valley, where some counter-culture people live, I thought...how weird and out of place. How weird and out of place. How sad and terrible for all concerned but how telling. I liken this all to lottery winners who try to live in the same neighborhood and have the resentment swirl around them like a dusty wind. Trucks rumbling through a formerly quiet and private tree lined valley...signs of progress but also of prosperity that leaves some behind. Why did he do it? He was pissed off.
You know what? I am glad that I live in a modest neighborhood on a hill overlooking town. I hear the freeway but I love my neighbors, who although different are sort of the same. We watch each other's property and watch each others kids grow up. We freaked everybody out when we told them that we were contemplating pulling up stakes and heading to the hills ( the big hills at the base of the Sierra). I could not figure out why but now that we are staying and things are settled down again, what it means for the neighborhood is that the artist's house with its quirky garden and big black dogs remains the same...something remains the same. Californians with roots in the Bay Area.
Alright. I am ending this rambling expose with some color for you so that I can jolt you out of the maudlin ramblings of someone who needs to go spin. Elizabeth accused me of being a tease. Here you go, Miss E. Biffle in Sky Drama with a little like colored Firestar dribbled in for fun.
I do have plenty of that Firestar stuff hanging around and so if you want to recreate this in your own home, I'm sure that I can hook you up. :o)))
In closing...love your kids.
Very pretty, Lisa, I think when you finally are ready to mass-produce silk/merino fiber I will finally get this color in my hands!
I'm applying to schools for Emily for kindergarten and my two sets of options are 1) Catholic schools the rest of the neighborhood kids go to, which turns my atheist stomach, or 2) Semi-classy and excellent private schools that I'm going to ask for money but where I worry that Emmy will be the only kid who doesn't get a pony for her 10th birthday and mom's used BMW for her 16th, and sailing lessons every summer. I have my 'parent conference' meeting at one of them on Tuesday and that is one of the questions I'm going to ask: Ethnic diversity is very nice but how is the economic/class diversity of your student body??
Posted by: CarolineF | October 21, 2005 at 09:53 AM
Thank you very much! Definitely worth the wait. Goegeous as always!
Posted by: elizabeth | October 21, 2005 at 10:18 AM
We have a similar story here - a kid was mad that his parents wouldn't let him switch religions and they had different views on dating, so he hired his best friend to help and they went into his parents' dry cleaning store and shot them each a half dozen times. Huh? Yeah, he loved them, but they wouldn't let him have his 17 yr old way. He was one of the popular kids, too, not the ostracized one. I think the boundaries for kids have expanded so far out that they have to really be "creative" to get noticed. I remember when I was in high school it was a big deal to get to wear jeans in school. When those are your boundaries, you really don't have to put much effort into acting out.
Lovely yarn.
Posted by: Kerry | October 21, 2005 at 10:41 AM
My parents built a house in the woods way out from DC, and it grew up around them into a millionaires' neighborhood--and we were the poor artist types. It was awful--but it was also really good training for what's important in life. Seeing the deceit inherent in putting your trust in your things instead of being there for each other. Seeing what matters.
And that Sky Drama is, as always, gorgeous. I love that colorway.
Posted by: AlisonH | October 21, 2005 at 11:11 AM
tease, you call yourself a tease? i call you satan! there are not enough hours in the day to spin all your biffle!
when my son was little and i was poor, he went to a very small expensive private school, we had just moved to the town, and i just looked up schools in the phone book, it was close. the school was excellent, and my son got a great education. maybe growing up with all those kids who had so many material things made him work harder in school. god knows he saw how hard it was for me w/o a college degree. otoh, many of those kids had moms who didn't work, but couldn't be bothered to drop off their kids at the movies. but many of them were wonderful, i will never forget the mom who took care of my son for days when my dad was dying.
Posted by: vanessa | October 21, 2005 at 12:13 PM
Well, I wear my spoilsport banner with pride that i refuse to cater to either bratling, but to give them fully of my self where things count. thank you for reminding me of that reality.
Your biffle is lovely as always.
Posted by: marti | October 21, 2005 at 12:59 PM
Ha....and you call other people crack dealers...i have to agree with Vanessa!*GRIN*
But oh boy....i will dream my way to your crack-room tonight...so if i catch the flu it's your fault, because i have been laying with a cover who got wet!!!*LOL*
Murders..i will never understand what goes on in such persons heads....thank god....if i did, i would consult special doctors, right away!:-)
Posted by: Helle From Denmark | October 21, 2005 at 02:16 PM
Yeah, crack dealer...wool crack. YOU are the bunny crack lady...Danish bunny crack, no less. (layers and layers of hanter.)
Yeah, murder. It sucks.
Posted by: Lisa S | October 21, 2005 at 02:37 PM
Bunnie crack Lady...haha.....well, then i guess i better see, if i can get doped. I will go stick my nose in it right away!*GRIN*
Posted by: Helle From Denmark | October 22, 2005 at 10:25 AM