The Tiny White Sock

At 17 and 6, Fig and Punch see things through girls' eyes.

Today I found a snowy white baby sock filled with 15 pennies.

Whenever Punch comes to visit, she gravitates to the baby shoes I've saved. A pair of Fig's, with bear faces, and a pair of hers, pale green Robeez Soft Soles bought early one morning at Whole Foods in West Orange when she was in the shopping cart. The shoes are worn from the times she was here to crawl with us. I keep the little white socks she wore tucked inside. [I also have one lone white Isotoner ballerina slipper with a red poinsettia on the toe--I clearly remember my jolly preschool Figgy wearing those. When Punch arrives at our house, she will often--like a determined Cinderella--squeeze her foot into it to show us it fits.]

It seems that the last time Punch was here, she was pushing the brown plush monkey in the broken dolly carriage. She must have fashioned a makeshift purse from the sock, in case she needed to buy her monkey a make-believe banana. Every mommy must be prepared--and no baby must go hungry.

It reminds me of when I used to wash the quilt with pink and blue hearts and hang it out to dry in the sunshine and breeze, draping it over the old wood drying rack we bought in Kennebunkport years ago. Young, mischievous Figgy would spot it, get a glint in her eye, and turn it into a fort. Soon she and a pal would be playing under the folds. At 17, she is still brimming over with mischief given the right circumstances.

Do we have to lose this gift of transformation when we grow up? Do we see a basket and a checkered dish towel as a nice place to put muffins, rather than as a fairy tent? Do we mistake socks as footwear rather than penny purses?

I'm grateful for the girls in my midst. For their way of looking at something mundane and seeing something magical. What about the girl in me, the one who played with squishy red berries on the front steps, imagining them as food for her dolly Karen/Pudding? I hope she is still here. Actually, I know she is.

Good night.

TCOY

1. Important reading.
2. Boot camp in the park on glorious sunny day.
3. Worked productively--beginning to see that reporting/writing efficiently can foster TCOY, rather than push against it.
4. Made chicken and sweet corn.
5. Walked Sug around block.
6. Put votive candles in two glass holders and suspended them with ribbon from the apple tree in our front yard. Maybe I do know how to turn mundane into magical. I love looking at the light flickering in the garden.