Wednesday Outdoor Ball
I was invited to a kid's party at the interactive fountain today. I forgot- as did the other parents- that the interactive fountain is closed on Wednesdays. I don't know why it is closed Wednesdays. The fountain is closed but the park is still open.
It was a bit of a sad sight, all these kids in their bathing suits on that big, dry, flat surface. But being kids, they were unfazed. They began drawing little designs with sidewalk chalk around all the holes that normally squirt out the water, and blowing bubbles. And getting glammed out in their swimsuits with feather boas and tiaras and cowboy boots and the like. And popping balloons which made a terrific bang with the acoustics down there...Ouch.
I decided that we need to hold a ball periodically at the weekly fountain-turned-outdoor-dance-floor in Heritage Park. There is room for a band. This will be a wonderful opportunity for people in Olympia to get out their neglected formal attire. But it will, of course, be in the Olympia Way. Children may wear tutus. So may adults. People of any gender may wear tuxes or satin gowns or high heels as appropriate. Prints and corduroys and cowboy boots are all acceptable. Homemade or scavenged formal wear is most encouraged. In fact, the only rule is that you MUST wear something that makes you feel most festively and extravagantly yourself. Tiaras for all!
It was a bit of a sad sight, all these kids in their bathing suits on that big, dry, flat surface. But being kids, they were unfazed. They began drawing little designs with sidewalk chalk around all the holes that normally squirt out the water, and blowing bubbles. And getting glammed out in their swimsuits with feather boas and tiaras and cowboy boots and the like. And popping balloons which made a terrific bang with the acoustics down there...Ouch.
I decided that we need to hold a ball periodically at the weekly fountain-turned-outdoor-dance-floor in Heritage Park. There is room for a band. This will be a wonderful opportunity for people in Olympia to get out their neglected formal attire. But it will, of course, be in the Olympia Way. Children may wear tutus. So may adults. People of any gender may wear tuxes or satin gowns or high heels as appropriate. Prints and corduroys and cowboy boots are all acceptable. Homemade or scavenged formal wear is most encouraged. In fact, the only rule is that you MUST wear something that makes you feel most festively and extravagantly yourself. Tiaras for all!
posted by Jade at 12:03 AM
1 Comments:
"But being kids, they were unfazed." What a wonderful way of looking at things. Children can be counted on to find a way. As a child I really wanted to be a magician. I would gather together my limited funds and make regular trips to the magic department of Macy's in NY. I accumulated an assortment of tricks with which I baffled and amazed many. As an adult I realize that the magic was on in some corner of Macy's. The magic was in being the child. The magic was a child's imagination and a child's refusal to accept things the way they are.
The things that will turn Olympia into the place we want will come from the fact that we can still look at the world as children. We can refuse to accept things the way they are. We can have fun when we have been assured there is no fun to be had. We are, after all, the children of a brewery and an experimental college.
A child sees a deserted and dry fountain and sees a ballroom. It is not an obstacle but an opportunity. A child's eye is not only creative, it is also economical. It would cost virtually nothing to have "Wednesday Outdoor Ball" We don't even have to build it, they still will come. And is this not just a tad subversive?
So take your child's eye and heart around Olympia. No magic bags of tricks required. And if you are too old and or too removed from your own child's eye, just bring a child with you and listen.
Crenshaw Sepulveda
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