We have a new park. It was built by community effort and is a wonderful gathering place. Granted the chess pieces are not next to the chess board but then we don't have a crack house with a nice pit bull that haunts the house.
As part of the design there is a wonderful sandbox that has children's tiles and whimsical things all around and in it. But it is a sand box. Many of the neighbors pointed out that we had lots of cats in that found it a very nice place to "go".
It started me thinking about all the sandboxes we had as children. I am sure we had cats that liked to "go". I don't remember ever finding surprises or tasting anything that was not pleasant when I ate sand. Yes, I was a blatant sand-eater. I don't think I suffered from that experience or the gritty consumption. My dad has always said that the problem with children these days is that don't eat enough dirt.
The rain comes and never puddles washes and renews the sand, much like it does the world. Little paths and castles are reduced to gentle mounds and the harder rain leaves little impressions. Impressions not unlike the great impressions left by the large craters in the Arizona desert. Sand is so unstable and so malleable. Each time we visit the sandbox we never know what new world will be created and then destroyed by the next child or the next rain storm.
As much as I would like to think our world were different than the sand box, I don't think it is. There some unpleasant comings and goings. Things are not very stable nor lasting. There are storms and unpleasant destructions that are always changing the landscape. It looks different from one day to the next. The best we can hope for is some restorative rain and a great place to gather.
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