About a month ago at school I hosted a popsicle party in our little courtyard for the students who had successfully completed their summer math packets. This entailed a long afternoon with waves of students in groups from 50 to 70 every 20 minutes until all 465 completers were feted with icy fruit flavored sugar water. It's an annual tradition.
At one point a student made a discovery in the dirt. She found the battered remains of a little windchime made in the image of a be-hatted pink flamingo in copper and pieces of stained-glass. It had been buried in the dirt were it landed for some time by all appearances. I knew immediately that it had once belonged to our retired attendance secretary, and an idea took hold of me. Carefully I spirited it away from school.
For you see, in my neighborhood lives a man, Tony's partner, who is named Frederick. Frederick is by all accounts many things--he resembles a walking skeleton, he rarely interacts with others (a bit of a recluse), possibly hasn't left the home he shares with Tony in years--but above all speculation there is this one certainty: Frederick loves Flamingos! The yard that separates their home from the street is full of them! Every sort! Especially black plastic ones with their skeletons showing in the fashion of the Mexican holiday "El Día del Muerte". The arrangements of these 'pets' moves, and if you're lucky you might be around and catch Frederick talking to them as he helps them to their next position in the yard. There are also lots of Mardi Gras beads.
But what there wasn't was a Flamingo wind chime made of copper and stained-glass wearing a hat. I made it my mission to rectify this dreadful situation while giving the little wind chime a home where it would never be left to disappear into the dirt--a home where it would be cherished by a man with an odd, sweet heart.
[Best part, I snuck it down there and attached it to the tree when no one was looking...or at least I hope no one was.]
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