It makes me feel cooler just to peek at this little girl splashing. I am guessing the local civil engineers wanted to offer a community space that would refresh sweaty children in July. So they added spigots as a line item on the budget. Perhaps they have their planning meetings on a nearby bench once a year so they can enjoy watching the effects of that magnanimous decision. Probably it gives them more joy than watching the trash trucks, whose job is arguably just as important.
I read that the state of Oregon has passed a
bill
enabling college students to pay it forward, rather than be saddled with enormous loans on graduating. Considering that the interest rates for subsidized loans recently doubled, this is an altruistic step.
In South Central LA there is an effort to plant
gardens in vacant lots and medians, to provide free vegetables for the locals. No catch, just kindness.
This summer John and I are hosting a free summer marriage group. It is intended to replenish parched relationships, and feed hungry marriages. Last week we played games and laughed more than I have in a fortnight. In the fall we will offer more mentors to young couples, a mutually beneficial partnership designed to provide nourishment. I have assuredly been blessed by the couples we meet with each month. Yesterday I was at a picnic and one of the couples we mentor was there too. I enjoyed the chance to watch them looking tenderly at each other, knowing that their relationship has had some rough spots.
I even predict that in a dozen years they might feel inspired to mentor a less experienced couple, as a way of paying it forward.
