Skip to main content

What I Wished For

I said I wanted to volunteer, didn't I? Well, today I am getting my wish.

I'll start at 9:00ish at the food bank filling bags with canned goods and then passing them out to people until around 12:15. I am supposed to stay until 1:00, but I have an appointment to get my hair cut, one I forgot about when I agreed to help out today. I don't think I'll tell them why I'm leaving early. It would look bad.

A couple of days ago I got a call from the woman who arranged for meals for sick people, and she signed me up to make dinner for a family this evening. The couple in need at the moment is somewhat elderly, and the wife has broken something. I should know what exactly, but I have forgotten. She fell on the ice recently, and after a visit to the hospital, she is at home but still a bit hobbled. So tonight, I will deliver a salad, pasta with mascarpone, and flourless chocolate cake.

All week I have been designing book covers for a non-profit group that provides books to stores in English-speaking areas of Africa. I don't get cash for my trouble, but in the past, these people have sent me the most beautiful flowers I have ever seen, and once I got chocolate. I like that kind of pay, and I also like that they like my work.

My daughter's steel drum band is giving its big annual concert next week, and as soon as I can I'll start putting the program together. The band director is a dear friend of mine, and she lets me make this thing every year. It's a six-page program because besides the "order of service," it include a mini-biography of the guest artist, a list of names of all the kids in the band, and a few pages of patron ads that go a long way in raising money for this group. I'll be typing all of those weird little ads, which is always interesting because parents say the oddest things in them. "Go, Johnny. You're Pan-tastic!"

So, I could give you the cliché "be careful what you wish for," but that would suggest I am complaining that I now have a list of volunteer opportunities to dig into. But I am not complaining. I am delighted. Maybe the new phrase that may someday become a cliché should be "be careful to wish for good things." I have a full plate these next several days, and everything on it is delicious.

Comments

dive said…
Wow, Robyn. Are you taking part in some kind of "volunteer-a-thon"?
Or is it because we're all so lazy that you're doing our volunteer work for us?
8:28 AM
dive said…
Oh! Love the new header picture, by the way.
8:33 AM
Scout said…
Thanks, Dive. I thought it was time for a change. Funny how all this stuff happens at once. In a couple of weeks, I might not have a single task on the list.
8:44 AM
Cheltenhamdailyphoto said…
Admiring your work, Robyn x
9:00 AM
Joy said…
It is wonderful, isn't it? Serving others is such a privilege. That's why I enjoy working in the voluntary sector myself.

Thanks for visiting Norwich Daily Photo.

joy
A Pinay In England
Your Love Coach
The Goddess In You
6:58 PM
Sassy Sundry said…
Are you trying to make up for being a taker in a former life or something? You can bring me that kind of food.
8:11 AM
Alifan said…
Well done Robyn, good for you, always a nice feeling to help others...

Have taken your idea about new specs, and Dive has helped create a pic on my blog!!!!please note the book is his not mine....tee hee as Ame might say....
11:00 AM
Mrs. G. said…
It is so cool that you feel joy as you bring joy. I admire you.
2:24 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Am I Stupid, or What?

In two weeks, I will climb up into a charter bus, take my assigned seat, and ride 22 hours straight to Orlando, Florida. I will be a chaperon with the high school marching band, which will perform at Disney's Magic Kingdom--me and 180 people on four big buses for seven days. We will travel together, eat together, play together, fall down exhausted together--and after 22 hours, I suspect stink to high heaven together. Because of the crazy schedule, we will leave Ohio at 6 pm, travel all night and most of the next day, and spend several hours at MGM Studios before ending up at the hotel sometime after 7 pm. After I check in with the eight girls I am to supervise, I intend to shower and shower and shower. I intend to wear clean clothes and socks and brush my teeth until my toothbrush wears out. Of all the things I could be concerned about on this trip, being dirty seems to weigh heaviest on my mind. One of my eight charges could run off and do bad things with her boyfriend, but I'...
21 comments
Read more

No More Mr. Nice Guy

It's good to be a nice person--to say nice things, to do nice things, to write nice things--but I declare an end to the use of the word nice. Nice is what you say when you can't think of any other adjective. Someone shows you a picture of their back yard--that's nice. Someone tells you about their afternoon adventure--that's nice. Or someone describes their childhood in great detail and sometimes with painstaking effort--that's nice. It's a lazy word, and it's non-descriptive. Nice is like mashed potatoes with noodles and chicken gravy all in a big pile on one plate with some canned corn for garnish. Everything is the same color and texture and base substance--starch (this is a favorite Amish dish). Nice is like a partly cloudy day in April when outside feels like inside, and you can't tell a difference between the lighting and the temperature of your living room and the lighting and temperature of your front yard. Nice is a glass of lukewarm water. ...
20 comments
Read more

An Offending Pile

So, I'm standing in my living room letting my mind wander for a minute or two as I stare out the window and watch the day go by, and I see my neighbors walking their dogs down the street. They are nice neighbors who are always friendly and responsible with their property. That is to say they aren't like the other neighbors who heap rubbish behind their house like Ma and Pa Kettle and let their dogs bark for thirty minutes at a time . Anyway, I see the nice people walking their dogs, a big golden retriever who is as sweet as can be and as dumb as a post—he once ate a sock and nearly died before it was surgically removed—and a new golden retriever puppy. Then I see Neighbor Wife suddenly run down the street with the big dog. Then I see Neighbor Husband stopped in front of my house with the puppy on its leash. And then I see the puppy taking a huge dump in my grass. Let me tell you, that is not done in this town unless the dog owner has a plastic bag handy and is ready to pick up ...
16 comments
Read more