Remembering River Teeth

Carol A. Hand

As I sat on my back step this morning to greet the day, I saw a young girl walking down the alley. I often see her walking toward the high school in the morning, even though she looks so young. She’s often looking down as she walks. Today was no different. As she passed, hands pulled into the sleeves of her hooded sweatshirt, I sent her blessings in my thoughts and wondered how many people send blessings to the children they see passing.

I thought about the way people who live on the eastside of my town speak of children in my poorer neighborhood. And I remember the father who spoke enthusiastically about the excellence of the grade school at the end of the alley I live on, even though community members on the other side of town disparage it. He was so proud of how much his daughter had learned in her first year there – a delightful child eager to share the books she had read and proud of her artwork.

Photo: November 23, 2015

I can see the grade school clearly these days because the leaves of the bushes that blocked my view in other seasons have fallen. I send the children, teachers, and parents blessings in my thoughts as well. And I remember an old post about a neighbor who blessed my life as a child.

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Recently, I have been reflecting on what I would identify as the “river teeth” of my life thus far. River teeth, according to David James Duncan (2006), are the hard resinous knots that are all that remain after the softer wooden fibers of pine trees have been dissolved by the river waters into which they have fallen. Applied to life, they are the memories that remain decades later as transformative experiences and epiphanies. Continue reading …

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I hope I will always remember to take the time to send out blessings to others in my thoughts…

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