There are at least two things I like about today. First: Forty Bears are now packed and ready to go. Secondly, Germany won the soccer match against Argentina and will advance to the World Cup Semi Finals next Wednesday.
But, there is one more. I like the way the mockingbird situation has resolved itself. A master singer has moved into the neighborhood; he sings from the top of the pine tree in front of my house at seven in the morning. Not that he has improved the tui tui twee of my old friend in back, but I benefit from his expert song in that I am no longer dwelling upon the stunted melodies that reach me later on. Somehow it seems easier to think of my own tasks when the components of a morning concert fly past my ears without making me feel pity for the poor fellow who pours his whole heart into three syllables. I know now that he has not been replaced, but instead is supported by a more mature and experienced singer. At least that is the story my mind has fabricated around the mockingbirds in my neighborhood. I am always willing to believe the better of two outcomes.
As to the World Cup in South Africa, it’s been a long time since I’ve followed a sporting event that closely, and because I have no control over the outcome I never know how I will feel at the end of a game - happy because my team won, sad because the other team won, or, what is even worse, sad because the other team lost. Sometimes I can’t decide whom to root for. I am German, living in the USA, with friends in several other countries. I want everybody to be happy.
So, back to Bears. They do make everybody happy. I finished the second one hundred on June 28, almost a month ahead of schedule. (I wanted to be finished by Mr. Mandela’s 92nd birthday on July 18.) I named Bear #200 Jessica for Jessica Mbangeni, one of South Africa’s female Imbongi (praise poet). Jessica Mbangeni, singer, dancer, poet, narrator, is an international star; naming a Bear in her honor is just another way to catch her creativity and infuse the Bear with magic.
Some of the last forty Bears have been named after soccer players in the World Cup, some after people that surround artists, and some were the lucky winners of “chance drawings” from my “Baby Names from Around the World” book. All of them will fly to Africa with my most hopeful wishes that they will make a few more children happy.
I will take a two-months leave from knitting Bears, because there are a few other projects that need my attention. I’ll be back in September.
