HEY, FLOWERS!

Part of my Granny mission is to actively work with my grand-daughters to counter the media influences which erode their sense of agency and self-worth. One of the things I’d like to offer is alternative role models who out-shine the TikTok crowd and their ilk.

While I was pondering this challenge, I received in the mail the increasingly rare paper letter from a friend. Everyone loves a letter, right? I know I do. This gave me an idea: I decided to try ghost-writing paper letters from great women in history to my grand-daughters. I call this humble little project History Letters (ya, not too catchy, so maybe I’ll revisit that). My first step was to design a logo. Ta da!

Next, I needed a pre-text for sending the letters. I invented a woman named Dottie S. Hero. The pseudonym is a sloppy tip of the hat to the ancient Greek historian Herodotus (c. 484 – c. 425 BC), known as the “Father of History.” I composed a letter from Dottie explaining about History Letters.

Then, I finally sat down to write a lovely letter from Miss Helen Keller talking about her life and her legacy. She also offered encouragement as my grand-daughters face their own challenges and build their own dreams. The letter contains some of her most memorable quotes. I also made up a thing I named the “Helen Keller Challenge”(4 fun activities). Finally, I made a Helen Keller bookmark which includes my favorite photo of her (below).

I have no idea how this will be received. Some of my ideas are duds. But if this flies, I’ll let you know. Ideas for famous women are welcomed. You can read Helen Keller’s letter HERE.

When I’m at a loss for creative inspiration, my fallback plan is often a lunch invitation where I can go to the mountain and mine some gold. Such was the case recently with my grandson Roland. Keith and I enjoyed a lunch with him where we ate superb Mexican food (his favorite), and surveyed his interest areas hoping to uncover some things that excite him.

Many years ago, I started what I call a “Shine Plan” for each grandchild. I like the name because I believe my role is to help each of them shine in whatever areas stir their heart.

After lunch with Roland, I left with a host of ideas but there were three key take-aways I am prioritizing now for action.

1) He was very impressed with Daniel Day Lewis in the movie There Will Be Blood.

2) He was curious and engaged in a discussion about behind-the-scenes at the art museum where Keith worked on the Exhibitions staff.

3) He’d like to go on a vacation adventure.

These are added to Roland’s Shine Plan. If you’d like to see what my Shine Plans look like, here’s Roland’s below. I encourage adults to use this idea or something similar because it prepares you for those windows of time together which helps you make it special and meaningful for them.

Oh, my goodness! If you are unfamiliar with Bansky, you’re in for a treat. He has resurrected the intrigue of the good-hearted criminal akin to Robin Hood or Zorro. I love the things he’s done with his social activism pulpit. I’m also increasingly delighted with street art and have always loved grafitti, especially on trains. As you can imagine, I just had to build an art experience for my grandchildren around Bansky, the world’s most famous grafitti artist. If you aren’t familiar with Bansky, here’s a little bio I wrote to introduce him to the kids, but I’m sure he’d be happy to meet you too.

Bansky is one of the most elusive artists of our time. To this day, no one is certain of his identity. According to Wikipedia, Banksy “began as an artist at the age of 14, was expelled from school, and served time in prison for petty crime.” He is described as a “street artist, political activist and film director whose real name and identity remain unconfirmed.”

Banksy creates art through vandalism. A good share of his artwork is graffiti in public places like buildings, streets, statues, signs, walls, doors, etc. Cynthia Yang wrote an interesting piece called Bansky: Vandal or Artist? You can read it HERE.

Other Bansky works are on salable surfaces such as canvas, paper, moveable objects, etc. Bansky has an agent who sells his work, usually at auction, but there is a collection of his paintings at the Austin Museum of Popular Culture, as well.

Bansky also publishes books about his art. The best selling of these is Wall and Piece. The book promotion on Amazon offers this description:

Banksy, Britain's now-legendary "guerilla" street artist, has painted the walls, streets, and bridges of towns and cities throughout the world. Not only did he smuggle his pieces into four of New York City's major art museums, he's also "hung" his work at London's Tate Gallery and adorned Israel's West Bank barrier with satirical images. Banksy's identity remains unknown, but his work is unmistakable—with prints selling for as much as $45,000.

There is only one source for authentication of Bansky’s work. The official body is called Pest Control and applies only to his commercial works, usually silkscreened prints. On the Pest Control website, this FAQ explains What is Pest Control? “We’re the office that handles the paperwork for the graffiti artist Banksy. We keep detailed records of all the artwork, answer enquiries and intercept hate mail. We are the sole point of contact for the artist.”

It is generally estimated that Bansky earns about $20 million per year. Banksy's Devolved Parliament, which replaces British politicians in the House of Commons with orangutans and chimpanzees, sold for $12.2 million.

More recently, a Bansky painting titled Game Changer that honored the pandemic’s health care workers in the U.K. sold for $23.2 million. Proceeds, including the artist’s commission, will be used to fund health organizations and charities across the U.K.

The Associated Press reported, “the work by the mystery street artist, titled “Game Changer,” first appeared on a wall at Southampton General Hospital in southern England in May, during the first wave of the pandemic. The black-and-white picture depicts a young boy sitting on the floor playing with a nurse superhero toy, as Batman and Spiderman toy figures lie in a wastepaper basket next to him. At the time it went up, the hospital said Banksy left a note for workers there saying: Thanks for all you’re doing. I hope this brightens the place up a bit, even if it’s only black and white.”

It is believed that Bansky grew up in Bristol, England and now resides in London, but this is unconfirmed.

Here is Lilly, working on her graffiti project on the exterior wall of her building. I wanted to leverage this even further and let her and her sister spray paint on one of the basement walls. I thought it would be extra cool because we have one wall where, years ago, the older grandchildren, and even our children when they were little, did prehistoric cave paintings. But, alas, spray paint requires respirators and their little faces are too small to wear ours. So maybe brushes will have to do.

If the little girls in your life don’ t have the opportunity to participate in Girls on the Run, you may want to lace up your sneakers and bring this after-school program to their community. The intentional life skills curriculum and coach training program offer running and life lessons which are integrated and taught concurrently by trained coaches.

Girls from third grade through high school are taught positive social, psychological, and physical skills which have lasting improvements to their health outcomes and what they call the 5Cs: competence, confidence, connection, character, and caring. An independent longitudinal study showed 85% of the girls improved in the 5Cs and more than 40% increased their physical activity. An impressive 97% learned critical life skills from the program.

Girls on the Run culminates with a 5k run where all the girls are celebrated by the community. Keith and I were among the hoard of fans. Lilly is a great little runner and we are so proud of how hard she trained and ran in the race.

I have come to believe the most memorable celebrations are those that grow out of the ordinary snippets of life.  

ORDINARY SNIPPET 

My daughter asks, “Can you pick up the donuts at Fishy’s before school today?” There are two dozen for my grand-daughter’s treat for her class.

WHERE?

Did she say Fishy’s?  Hell, yes!

It’s an amazing local bakery and confectionery that serves yummy donuts, homemade candy, and an irresistible assortment of new and vintage candy. This would be the first trip for my grand-daughters - and, even better, my friend Dee works there! She’ll play along with anything I throw at her.

THE SET UP

“Hey kids, we are going to the Candyland Factory tomorrow where they make all the candy and bakery for the REAL Candyland. You will get a chance to meet Miss Dee (the girls decide the D must be for “Donut”).  And if we’re lucky, maybe Mr. Candyman will be there too.”

That morning, I woke up a little earlier than usual and made a quick run to Walmart to buy a Candyland game (wow, only $5). I dashed home where I added a little curly ribbon and hid it in the car.

As we drove, I explained they should memorize the route and landmarks to the Candyland Factory because there are no signs and its location is secret. There are a lot of people who try to steal their stuff because it is the best in the world. You have to be a very good and noble person to find its location (we do).

We pulled up to the warehouse on the Pioneer frontage road and entered on the side door. They bounced. Seriously. Two little girls jumping - boing boing.  I do not think I have ever been that excited about anything. I understand now the adage about “kids in a candy store.”

They went through every kind of candy yelling out its name, picking out their purchases (limit of 4 each). Then they’d put one back because they found a better one. An endless shopping extravaganza of weighty decisions. 

FAVORITE QUOTE

At one point Presley said, “I can’t believe it. I have been looking for this kind of candy for my entire life” (which, in one more day, would be 8 years).

They did indeed meet Miss Dee who presented Presley with a birthday present: the Candyland Game. Luckily Mr. Candyman was wearing his “Nerds” shirt and helped us find gummy sharks. My personal favorite candy was the Sour Spray which Lilly found horribly fun as you can see by her expression in the photo.

We had just enough time to sneak in a game of “Candyland” before the first bell rang (their signal to get their backpacks and head for school).  It was a vicious match which Paw won handily. 

Who knew picking up donuts could be so much fun?

Speaking of Shine Plans, if you read my last Granny Bunny letter you know I am making an orange-flavored treat for my oldest grandson once a month as a special way to show him some Granny Love. Well, in the past couple weeks, I’ve added to that plan and am making him a little recipe book with photos of the food, the recipe, and us enjoying the yumminess. Here’s the cover I designed. I am loading the photos and recipes I’ve made for him so far. I think it will make a sweet little gift at the end of this project. Shhh! Please don’t tell. It’s a surprise.

April’s Treat | Orange Fluff!