Arsenic in the Water. The Hidden Kiss. "A" for Effort

After fixing the flat tire on my bike today I went for a ride. I began riding the Green Belt Path that is a paved trail that goes along side the river in Downtown Boise. If you ride the whole trail, you can ride up to the Rivers Dam. So I road up to the Dam, called Lucky Peak. Cute name if your life is not dependent upon the Dam security being, “ Lucky”. I stopped to get water at a resting area along the way. The drinking fountain was turned off, so I ran into the bathroom to put my head under the sink. Posted on the counter was a warning that read, “ Do not Drink the Water, trace amounts of Arsenic has been found in the water” I didn't read the whole note, it was very long, I only stopped and walked out once I read the word Arsenic. Trace amounts of Arsenic seems terribly out of place in a rest area on a bike path in route to a Dam. When I think of Arsenic, I think of that Cary Grant movie, “Arsenic and Lace” a film about a man in fear of his wife poisoning him. I just think that if that woman was going to poison her husband, she should put his poison in his evening soup or afternoon coffee, not my rest area water fountain! I finished my ride to the dam and came back to find a Mango Salesman on the corner. I bought a mango ate it like it was life itself and washed my face and beard off in the river. End of story.

I just started reading “Peter and Wendy” the first audition of Peter Pan. I am not sure how the title of Peter and Wendy turned into the story of Peter Pan. I have only just begun to read it, but already I am blown away by the dramatic differences of what I have known of Peter Pan. The story already has made a silent commentary about the relationship between Man and Woman, Husband and Wife. Wendy's Mother is described as the gem of the Household, the Father a man who is set off by his lack of authority with his children. The Mother is said to have a hidden Kiss in the corner of her mouth, and at times you can see it exposed when she is at her height of joy. Still her husband has no knowledge of the Kiss, and only Wendy has the true knowledge of it. There seems to be a odd tension between Wendy knowing her Mothers relationship with her Father and than contrasting that with Wendy's affections for Peter the Boy who can come into all of the children dreams. Peter's access to the children is not just through the window, but it is through a dream like state possessed by children. 

Art combined with effort. Effort will triumph over artwork. The bases for this idea comes from a story I read in a favorite book of mine, “ Art and Fear” A class room of ceramic students were divided into two groups. The first group was told that there grade in the class would come from the teacher literally weighing all of their work and giving them a grade based upon a sufficient weight of clay worked into shapes. The second group was told that they would be graded on excellence, and that they were only required to turn a few pieces that were than to display the true excellence of their work. At the end of the year a examination was done of all the works. It was noted that the students who were required to produce large quantity's of work increased their ability by the process of trial and error and taught themselves refining skills. The students who judged themselves on excellence lost much favor, because they spent most of their time in slow process of development. Hurry up and make your mistakes so that you can become better.