It sure feels weird to be out of the loop for so long. I have been extremely busy with fair (4-H) for the children. The hardest thing to figure out is why it takes all summer to get ready for one week. Perhaps it is because the children are so involved? Anyway, I am here now and it is raining outside. I have no pressing plans- so I can chat for awhile.
Fair is the most recent thing on my mind so I will tell you what I observed last week. Orange Shoe Guy (OSG) took horses, goats, chickens and pigs. No you are not reading that wrong. Some of you might be shaking your head and saying, “That is too much…”
In the middle of last week- I would have agreed to with you. Yet, OSG and his siblings are homeschooled. They are not involved in extracurricular sports. What is their thing? Fair. So we put our all into it. We work hard. We play hard. The kids make college money. We simply love it.
In the few spare moments that I grabbed for observation, I noticed that OSG was the only black child to compete at the fair this year. We live in a rural Midwest farming community, so that was no surprise. Yet, I was shocked at how obvious my children and I are. We are almost unforgettable by looks alone. I do not think that we (or he) received any negative effects from being different- we just were and have always been. OSG does notice that he is the only black kid out there but seems to be fine with that status.
As OSG completed his projects and work, I noticed a marked difference between his efforts and his brother’s who is four months older than he is. It was hard to explain to OSG why he did not ‘win’ but his brother did. OSG’s brother is very detailed and precise. He is a perfectionist of sorts and will redo a project until it is right. OSG…?
Well, he is fun-loving and fast. He wants to get things done quickly and move on to the next thing. He would rather be singing, dancing or entertaining than sitting and creating. He loves people and has a special heart for them. The struggle that I have is how to explain the differences in personality and make-up to the guy that came in second- or didn’t place at all.
The best part of the week for me was watching OSG sing for the first time in public. He was really good. He sang Viva, Las Vegas wearing those bright orange shoes and a Blue’s Brothers hat. What a neat guy.
~Angie
