Dinner with my Parents

I just got home, and I’m enjoying some freshly brewed tea. I had an interesting night with my parents, and a couple of short stories to convey, that are telling of possibilities for hope in an increasingly dangerous world.

Every Day Feminism

My mom was recalling a story from work. An acquaintance who coaches hockey, was telling her  how he’s been a hockey coach at a Catholic high school in the town where I was born. He was explaining his idea for having cheerleaders, for the first time, at next year’s hockey season, in front of both his daughter and my mom.

“Maybe you could be a cheerleader for the team”, someone remarked to the daughter.

To which the daughter replied: “I’d be a much better coach than cheerleader.”

Beautiful Hot Air Balloons

Its the last day of summer in the area where I grew up. Its called the Hudson River Valley, nestled on the Western banks of the Hudson River, in lower New York. The river flows through the rolling Appalachian Mountains which, as the summer passes to fall, are a glorious sight to see. Birds migrate South. Animals prepare for the winter freeze. The leaves slowly begin to change to spectular autumn colors. And in September and October afternoons, as the sun gets low in the sky, you can often see many beautifully-designed hot air balloons gracing the sky-scape. Today there were about half a dozen in the air, as we returned from dinner.

I’ve lived for the last four autumns in New York City. Autumn being my favorite season, I’ve thoroughly excited to be home for this one. At home, much like in the city, people are highly alienated from each other. People rarely go throughout their days not communicating with many people, though many people are around them. The day-to-day overpowers the drive for community and cooperation.

A yellow and red hot air balloon, brightly colored and gigantic in size, began to descend towards a parking lot. It was inches from a major parking lot road, briefly stopping traffic, before being pushed manually by its operators into the parking lot before touching the ground. My parents and I turned the car around to enter the parking lot and watch.

If you’ve never seen a hot air balloon, make sure you do before you die. They really are miraculous vehicles which can leave spectators who see them in awe. An empty parking lot quickly filled, with close to a hundred people. People who were doing their normal routine, stopped with their friends, families, and children. For twenty minutes, people just watched as the awesome balloon was deflated and prepared for pick up.

People are highly alienated from society, but sometimes something as simple as a hot air balloon can stop hundreds of people, sparking our imaginations and begging us to reach for the skies. While I quite possibly could be over reading the situation, I think there’s a lot of truth to the need for social activists to incorporate elements of hope, fun, and imagination into our work. Its often an element missing, which has the capacity to spark interests of people who are numb to angry or mournful forms of protest.

Anyway, that was some of my night out with my parents.