Two paintings in my bedroom. One I created and one that was given to me. Not certain how feng shui it is, but they are facing each other, almost opposing. One painting seems organized and formed from structure while the other comes from a storm of chaos that must have some direction that it was going. I can look at both of them and appreciate what both of them is saying. But my painting speaks to me more. There is some nostalgia in looking at it. The creation and the way it lays to canvas and becomes something that you made from scratch. Even if it's been called by one friend who is a painter as "not good", it still does what I need it to do. Hang there and amuse me.
******
Over the past ten months or so, money's been tight. Single dollar bills along with five's and ten's have been put into a coffee cup in order to help save $600 to sign up for 2011 Ironman Wisconsin. Even in times when I had to sell off things to pay for gas or food, the jar remained untouched. It's been tight but I knew there might be relief in sight. Being part of a divorce and the cost involved as well as the adjustment into the cost of living by yourself takes its toll.
I sold my triathlon bike in order to pay rent. The buyer asked me why I wanted to sell it and I told him that it was "just too much bike. I just need a road bike." It was a true statement but it's not why I was selling it.
Without a bike and a athletic base workout that was severely laking, I still had my coffee cup full of cash to sign up for this race in September of 2011. At least I had the registration fees.
I took the kids to early registration, thanks to my volunteerism with Ironman Wisconsin. We got into the Monona Terrace where registration took place on the floor below. The kids and I take the escalator down to find the room full of people who were registering.
Our whole trek to this place is being mult-tasked with Franny's stories about middle school. There are times when she can talk about people, places and things for as long as she has breath. Ian stumbles along, holding my hand. Sometimes needing to be carried. Something a 5 year old should be trying to quit. And during Ian's struggles up or down, Franny continues with her stories.
We make it to the front of the line after waiting and we approach the registration table. Franny quiets down and Ian stands by me while I answer a number of questions. They are simple and she asks for my money and I give her my debit card. Seems less dramatic now. Maybe I should have brought the mug and the cash for the full effect.
We left the building and the kids were quiet and so was I. We held hands. I wondered how I could get a bike and when to start training. I wondered how I could train with the schedule I have now that I'm a part time single parent. I wondered what challenges were ahead of me this time.
*****
Franny stood next to me at the computer while I showed her an article about her school. DEER FOUND INSIDE BADGER RIDGE MIDDLE SCHOOL. She was in awe of the idea that right after she left, this large mammal snuck into the school and found its way into the custodian's closet. Her eyes large with shock and amazement, wondered how this could happen and laughed about it.
The next day, I picked her up from her friend's house after school when she got the case of the chatties again. She spun this tale of the eight point buck that made its way into the school by smashing the windows. The large male deer felt stuck in the outside since it wandered into a courtyard. It looked for ways to get into the windows and couldn't get into the building. It thought that the windows would provide escape. When, in fact, getting into the building would only provide four walls--enclosed into brick walls.
As it cased the windows, it found a window to smash into and got into an empty classroom. When it walked into the hallway, it was scared frozen since the hallway floors were so slippery. It would slide and slip for a momentary attempt to walk. As one teacher grabs a broom, he slowly walks closer to the buck. The onlookers are told to stay calm and still while they are in their classrooms. He is in a static position with his broom while the deer is relatively still. The young and old onlookers stayed in the doorway, watching.
The teacher extends the broom and gains contact with the deer. The deer sees this but is frozen on the slippery floor. He starts pushing and gains enough torque to slide the animal on all fours across the floor into the custodian's closet. He quickly shuts the door and traps the animal.
Soon after, he called animal control. They came to the middle school and ushered the buck to an exit. On the exit, it ran like it was running away from something, never looking back.
"How were there kids still there?" I asked Franny since this occurred after school was out.
"There were clubs and activities going on," She told me frankly, "Why would it want to get into the building?"
"Maybe it knew that if it had to go where the people were, so it can be helped. Sometimes we know that the bigger challenges lead us to where we want to go."
Franny nods her head and smiles, "Ok....."