Fun Sunday & Undie Monday

Two happy things to blog about this morning: Fun Sunday and Undie Monday.

Fun Sunday: On her drive to work each morning Ginny has to pass through a slum where she sees various odd things.

As a special treat for me, Sunday she took me to see an odd standpipe exposed by demolition. She knows I am enamored of photographing beautiful things which have been unintentional created by people, things I term organic art. So she knew that I’d love this standpipe. We had a wonderful time taking pictures of that as well as the decorations on a brick wall of a neighborhood storefront church.

I’ve posted some of the photos we took over on the blog sidebar in John’s Gallery under the title Urban Art In Jacksonville.

A funny thing happened during our breakfast at Dave’s Diner, a spot where we have hung out often for years, where we never need to look at a menu, and where we have an easy relationship with the staff.

When the waiter came over for our order, he greeted, “Ginny, I’m glad to see you with him this morning instead of one of those strange women he usually brings in here”.

I reached across the table, took her hand and said, “Sweetheart, I don’t know any woman stranger than you”.

The three of us cackled like fools.

Great fun on a cold Sunday morning.

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Undie Monday: No, don’t get all excited; this has no relation to Half-Nakkid Thursdays which some of my e-friends observe by posting photos of themselves in various states of undress every Thursday.

This is something different.

My librarian daughter told me about Undie Monday the other day when I took her to lunch.

In the past I’ve written about her library’s fighting rattlesnakes which like to sun on the warm concrete walk at the front door. I’ve written about how her library lets kids who are slow readers come in to sit on a blanket and read stories to dogs. Her library sponsors a program where readers knit warm afghans for an old folks home up in the cold frozen north. And her library sponsors a program to cull Jacksonville libraries of duplicate books to replenish the stock of libraries flooded by Hurricane Katrina.

But, now her library is collecting underwear.

While working at various rescue missions, I’ve noticed myself that while donors generously give coats and pants and sweaters, they seldom donate underwear. The clothing centers often fall short in that department.

Well, to fill this gap, the libraries of Jacksonville act as collection points for brand new still-in-the-package underwear and socks in children’s sizes. Library staff and readers bring such underwear to local libraries and on a Monday in March (hence the name Undie Monday) these items will be gathered for distribution to the poor by a charity called Dignity U Wear.’

What makes this extra fun at my daughter’s library is that some wag began attaching the donated underwear to a plant to create an underwear tree!

And here’s the amazing thing: along with snakes, dogs, underwear, afghans, and all that stuff — the library also occasionally circulates books.

I wonder why the library system buys so few of the books I write?

I think it’s because they waste all their funds on this other stuff.

It is entirely possible to read a book while wearing no under garments whatsoever.

I do it all the time.