He is small and determined and me I was once a small determined kids like him that really enjoyed my dad playing the violin.
This is not the only connection I have to the violin. My son's first violin was sold very cheap by my friend who I end up cutting relations with because of an argument over women rights.
Ironically my friend sold me her daughter's violin because her daughter had outgrown the violin. The violin is branded , which I would not afford back then if I was to buy it new and when she offered to sell me the violin for a tenner citing to only charge me for postage I really rejoiced.
This was my friend for this and for more, and was truly sad how people go their own ways or how friends of someone can change someone so much as to make her a stranger to others.
I sometimes look back at my mobile texts, my Facebook, my skype , email, my Whatsapp and my friend is gone but she was gone before that, I just could not see it.
When we met she was this lovely lady, beautiful brunette with blue eyes who had transitioned from male to female years ago but as years went by she became LGBT activist and my feminism from a woman's point of view collided with hers when a Bristolian mixed race transgender took the place in a female prison solitary cell from a vulnerable white female teenager.
I , mixed race took the side of the white girl because she was suicidal and needed the cell but my friend took the side of the mixed race because was a transgender who would kill herself if in a male prison or in female general population .
The bottom line is that there is no race divide in life , there is something different , which is when people are put against each other because of limited resources or views which are imposed by the media.
I should never have thought nor said that no matter what transgenders are privileged as they are born male and the world belongs to men, as I met her as a woman and I should never have thought that friends are not like resources and sometimes you just have to fight for your friends!
Maybe I need LGBT training but that violin was given by a friend which I pictured as I looked at straight woman , yet and I have a lot to learn about excluding others experiences and understanding of what is to be a man or a woman or the struggles they face . Saying I accept you is not enough- one day maybe I will be the good person I think I am.
Best wishes,
Ariane
Today I taught the kids about ways to keep their blood circulation active during the day, as we are now facing the full blow of Cov-19 in society.
To think that this started before Christmas in China, but very few knew is truly terrifying as we had their grandparents here for Christmas and seniors are more vulnerable to Cov-19.
We came up with desk bike, feet sauna and vibrator plate to activate the circulation, however my youngest disagrees and feel vibrating plate is not for kids growing and feet sauna is for women only. He is very worried with his grandparents as we are seeing over 1000 senior deaths a day.
This Monday is being rather strange as we enjoy dinner with an uninvited guest which we are not succeeding in getting rid off.
This pigeon got fed up of waiting for me to put bread crumbles by the window and in his little mind moved permanently to our home.
After spending the whole day chasing the pigeon the kids and I decided over dinner what to do, if call the RSPCC or just keep trying to get the bird out.
We have a cat, a Scottish wild cat and hands up to Kitty for staying in the living room the whole day waiting for us to come up with a viable option to capture and release the pigeon who wants to be part of the family.
To our surprise, after I captured the pigeon , the bird fled away towards a tree in the school in front of the window and then turned back and came back to the window to stare at us. Fortunately, this time the window is closed and our cat is by the window looking at the bird in a intimidating manner - just in case the pigeon does not get the message.
In a time of uncertainty, this bird thought we could shelter her in any manner, yet when we walk down to the shops the shelves are empty and are people awfully rude snatching things off each other, but somehow this bird felt that we could provide for her in the future.
What really went through the mind of this bird during this lockdown and what to make of the future ? Kids are worried and feel Cov-19 will get to kids in a way or another, but I am confident that they do not have to worry.
I told them we are all birds in a way or another, not because of the dinosaurs, but because we are all here in the world for a very short time maximum 120 years at a time.
Today we had to let nature win, and this terrified pigeon willing to risk his life by sharing a home with a cat will just have to find another niche during this short journey on earth.
Just like us here , me and the kids, we are also travelling on this earth where the niches are never strong enough for the winds or the murky waters they fall into when the stream is carrying hard water like the hard times of Cov-19.
Best wishes,
Ariane
