For Easter 2022..

We live among dragons here.. -moja-

Grandmother Hilda’s little lions fly up curtains to perch and bounce across curtain rods. They jump into corners pushing off the adjoining walls convinced they can fly up to be with those dragons sitting at the tops of the walls. Those dragons who sit upside down on the ceiling too.

Dragons live in Grandmother Hilda’s house, on Grandmother Hilda’s walls, on Grandmother Hilda’s ceilings. Dragons live in the vents that let hot air out through the top of each outside wall.

Dragons live outside Grandmother Hilda’s house too. That is often where the little lions will catch one.

When a scuttling little dragon mistakenly makes its way down near to the ground, then a little lion will win. Pouncing, snatching a wriggling morsel of dragon up, to then stride proudly growling away so all know. So all know that particular little lion is Saint George vanquishing its foe. Unlike Saint George, however, the striding little lion is the one to take refuge in the nearest cave-like place. Also unlike Saint George, in the safety of that cave-like place is where that proud little lion consumes its vanquished.

Grandmother Hilda’s two little lions each have a name. You knowing those names would normally be unimportant as lions natures tend to be most similar when observed from a distance. However these are Grandmother Hilda’s little lions who run between walking legs, or race ahead silently to guard or instead follow Grandmother Hilda yowling as she leaves to go do other non-little-lion-centric things.

Because they are so rapt with themselves, and hence are rapt with Grandmother Hilda and her possession of food and watering bowl filling magic, Grandmother Hilda’s little lions are around enough for one to perceive each little lions’ peculiar individual characteristics.

The smaller one possessed of more literal color is Maureen.

More independent than her larger brother from the same litter, she is also significantly more intelligent and has the simple magic of being able to become invisible. She can choose to become invisible to whomever she wants to be invisible to. Less and less frequently does she choose to be invisible to Grandmother Hilda. Grandmother Hilda has consistently searched for, found, brought home and comforted little lion Maureen after a particularly trying, difficult or failed quest after a conquest.

The one entity consistently in little lion Maureen’s life, whom she chooses most often to be invisible to, is her big brother of the same litter. He can wander about Grandmother Hilda’s house yowling, completely clueless to Maureen’s quiet invisible presence just outside the curtain. Maureen resides there outside the curtain roosting upon a throne-ledge of mortar just outside the window bars designed to keep the monkeys out.

With Maureen’s ears at half-mast she will look Grandmother and any other person imploringly in the eye back and forth as if to say..” My big brother of the same litter is so stupid, he can’t see me.. I don’t want him to see me.. please don’t pick him up and show him where I am..”

So, we don’t.. unless the yowling gets intolerable. By then the yowling has likely become intolerable to Maureen as well so with disgust she relents of her solo retreat. This she does by letting herself become visible again.

Maureen often becomes visible again after jumping through the window bars designed to keep the monkeys out, and back inside, and silently down to the floor to sneak up on her big brother of the same litter. Other times she stays hidden behind the curtain out on the ledge until we have poked the yowling big brother of the same litter out through those window bars designed to keep the monkeys out. We set yowling brother out onto that very throne-ledge of mortar with Maureen. Maureen’s throne-ledge upon which many languid hours on many languid days have been shared by the two of them. Somehow the brother is never able to find her there when she doesn’t want to be found.

Her magic of invisibility is powerful.

It would be easier to just let you know the name of little lion Maureen’s big brother of the same litter.

Little lion Maureen’s big brother of the same litter is named Ronald. Ronald is two toned to Maureen’s three. This is of no matter to their character but is gift to Grandmother Hilda when they are far off and Grandmother Hilda wants to know which little lion she is looking at.

Grandmother Hilda walks most mornings from Grandmother Hilda’s house to another house that has become an office. That office is busy with many people doing many things. Grandmother Hilda toils there at writing lesson plans and experiments for other teachers to teach to children. Grandmother Hilda does many other things too. However, Grandmother Hilda is the only one in that office who can write lesson plans and experiments and then teach those to other teachers so they can teach children.

Writing about Grandmother Hilda’s daily walks and what she does on the far side of those walks might not seem important, and it might not be. It might be a tangent, something connected but not part of any central common purpose. It might be a distraction to avoid talking about more magic.

One can often get compelled by Grandmother Hilda’s many magical ways though. That is part of Grandmother Hilda’s magic. Magic she doesn’t openly acknowledge she has. Grandmother Hilda is many things. One of those many things is a scientist and as a scientist she does not see magic. There are times Grandmother Hilda doesn’t seem to be able to see much at all. Wait a moment though, take Grandmother Hilda away from her lesson plans and experiments, and let her be something more. She can see magic then. People can be funny that way. People can be wonderful that way.

Anyway, the little lions named Maureen and Ronald can be identified from afar by Maureen’s three colors to Ronald’s two. This lack of a third color does not make Ronald any less intelligent than his little sister of the same litter Maureen. Ronald simply is less intelligent than Maureen as part of his character. Ronald is bigger than Maureen and sometimes is too strong, too rough, when they tumble and fight.

Ronald can be a bully. Maureen will share her throne-ledge of mortar behind the curtain and just outside the window bars designed to keep the monkeys out. Maureen will groom and clean Ronald most meticulously there and allow Ronald to groom and clean her in return.

However Ronald, who has a bit of being a bully as part of his character, consistently refuses to share his throne. Ronald’s throne is inside. Ronald’s throne is in the middle of Grandmother Hilda’s house. That throne is between the floor all walk on and those dragons he dreams he can fly up to.. high on the walls and ceilings of Grandmother Hilda’s house.

Ronald’s most selfish throne is the bathroom sink.

The Bathroom Sink sits beneath the long mirror gifted to Grandmother Hilda by one of those who cares deeply for Grandmother Hilda living her gathering recent days so far from where she has spent nearly the entirety of her living days before. That gift of long mirror is nested in simple, almost invisible, wire lattice attached to the narrow tiled wall of an open hallway leading to both the tiled shower, with its own door, and the tiled commode stall, with its own door.

Ronald’s bathroom sink throne is therefore perfectly situated in the center of Grandmother Hilda’s house. Ronald’s bathroom sink throne is perfectly situated in that tiled hallway to gather all the sounds from inside Grandmother Hilda’s house and all the sounds coming in all the windows from outside the house. Ronald shows attention to these details with ears in fluttering motion even with closed eyes. The little lion Ronald is not as intelligent as his sister Maureen, but, he isn’t completely stupid.

Ronald guards his throne vigorously. When one approaches to wash their hands Ronald is unmoving until several seconds after the water is turned on. Then finally, soaked thoroughly, Ronald jumps down in disgust and waggles away unable to decide whether wet paws or soaked coat of fur need shaking first. Ronald is big and sometimes too rough, but his magic isn’t being smart.

Maureen is very smart though and can use her magic of invisibility to hide her orange patches and thus do things that Ronald gets blamed for. No single little lion can get into all the trouble Ronald gets into.

Just this morning Grandmother Hilda had to bring Ronald back to her house from half way to the office. She carried Ronald into Grandmother Hilda’s bedroom and shut the bedroom door leaving Ronald shut inside. The bedrooms are the only rooms with mosquito wire inside the window bars designed to keep the monkeys out. Those windows try to keep both monkeys and mosquitos out, and hence little lions, in. There Ronald yowled and yowled. After speaking softly to Ronald from outside her bedroom window on her way again to the office, Grandmother Hilda paid no heed and carried on with her day.

Ronald, of course, made trouble for himself by climbing the curtains to the windows where he climbed the mosquito wire. Ronald has been doused by water in the sink. Ronald has been repeatedly doused by water for climbing the mosquito netting around and over Grandmother Hilda’s bed. Sometimes there is no time for water. Ronald got bonked on the head until the thought of returning to the floor abruptly became his own.

Then the door to Grandmother Hilda’s bedroom was left open. Ronald appeared in Grandmother Hilda’s living-room almost immediately to ask forgiveness and repeatedly butt that same bonked head into the hand that bonked it to seek petting and consolation. Purring ensued. After which walking across the computer keyboard and swatting at the computer mouse was the next patch of self-inflicted trouble Ronald got in to.

Or was it Ronald at all? I didn’t see Maureen’s orange patches anywhere during the morning’s transgressions, not on the little lion making trouble nor on any other little lion. Were Maureen’s orange patches made invisible? At least one third of the troubles must be Maureen making her orange patches invisible so she can get even with Ronald for being the bully. What else is invisibility magic for?

---------------------------------------

We live among dragons here.. -mbili-

There are dragons buzzing over the places of water outside and once one was sitting on the clothesline just outside the back door, the kitchen door. It seemed untroubled by the laundry being hung up.

These, of course, are different magical dragons from the ones that the little lions cry up at from their place on floor, or couch, or table, or counter top, or refrigerator, or curtain, or curtain rod.. or even the top of a swinging open or closing door.

These magical flying dragons have lots more eyes.

They also have four wings. They also have beautiful iridescent colors. Science says these dragons are much older and conquered the earth long before the brownish scuttling ones the little lions so want to swat, pounce upon, and eat. These dragons were magically in flight over the earth one hundred million years before the scuttling ones who hide behind the curtains, couch, refrigerator and stove top popping out at just the right time to make Grandmother Hilda jump.

Grandmother Hilda’s magic has her little lions adoring Grandmother Hilda. No wonder they want to slay the scuttling dragons. Outside Maureen and Ronald leap into the air trying desperately to scoop the beautifully colored older magical dragons with many eyes and four wings into their longing mouths.

Ronald eats many things. Ronald has fought and eaten a praying mantis almost half as long as Ronald. Ronald has eaten scuttling dragons bigger than that praying mantis, and then thrown them up. Little lion Ronald ate a shrew yesterday after throwing and chasing it around Grandmother Hilda’s house for over an hour. Ronald then threw it up too. Did I mention Ronald just isn’t that smart? He eats all of everything even the parts that make him sick, and he eats the dragons and shrews he catches too fast.

Perhaps throwing up is Ronald’s magic.

Maureen doesn’t seem to have that problem. Both little lions are dragon slayers. They chow down on crickets, flies, spiders, roaches, ants, depending upon variety, and even the rare millipede that doesn’t roll into a little fat Frisbee. Millipede Frisbees are too fun to swat around. Ronald is brave enough to eat a praying mantis that is trying to eat him back.

Ronald is also brave enough to run into any type of trouble when Maureen cries out for help. One night he leapt through the window to confront whatever Maureen was calling for help over. After quite a noisy and loud kafuffle outside, Ronald returned to Grandmother Hilda’s bed completely soaked in mud.

Ronald was taken to his bathroom sink throne and washed thoroughly. Grandmother Hilda is glad to report Ronald was only covered in mud, nothing more troublesome. Grandmother Hilda is also proud to report that her little lion Maureen also battles and eats, without throwing up, little snakes.

Grandmother Hilda’s little lions eagerly do battle with and eat those things that might make Grandmother Hilda’s day even more filled with jumping. That should make up for the little lions both exercising the magic of making Grandmother Hilda jump on occasion too.

Grandmother Hilda is thankful she hasn’t caught sight of her little lions catching any of those older magical dragons with four wings, iridescent colors, and many eyes. Grandmother Hilda thinks they are beautiful. Besides, Grandmother Hilda explains, dragons eat mosquitos. Mosquitos like Grandmother Hilda. Grandmother Hilda, whose much magic includes loving almost everything and everyone, does not like mosquitos.

We live among dragons here.. -tatu-

You live among dragons too..

What dragons do you live among?

What needs slaying?

What makes you jump out of shock or fright?

What makes you leap with joy?



        Grandmother Hilda’s little lions have adopted her.

        They teach us about being adopted by the greatest Lion ever, 

        The Lion of Judah.

        The mightiest and most patient Lion willing to always go with 

        us into danger.

        There to battle and destroy that which darkens life.



        We might be more intelligent.

        We might be bigger.

        We might be more colorful.

        We might get into more trouble.



        Our magic may be invisibility.

        Our magic may be throwing up.

        Our magic can be anything.


Are we, in turn, little lions adopting other people too?

        Do we notice their dragons?

        Do we notice the dragons that make them jump out of shock or 

        fright?

        Do we notice the dragons that make them Leap for Joy?



Our magic can be anything.. anything.. anything..


For grandchildren, and their parents, everywhere whom we love more than breath..