Today we got a birthday card from a Bobbledy club member named Lily.
Like a descriptive plaque hanging beside a great work in an art museum, Lily’s mom provided a bit of context that might aid interpretation.
This is what she said:
Here is Lily’s completed birthday card. She has drawn four people, one in the pool, one standing outside the pool, one on the diving board, and one on the ladder. She has drawn a towel for each person, a pink one, a red one, a grey one, and one with polkadots.
I admire several things about Lily’s drawing. First of all, she covered the bases, drawing a person in each of the possible contexts provided by this picture. And each of these people is drawn differently in accordance with what he or she is doing. The person in the pool is swimming. The person on the ladder is climbing. The person by the side of the pool is standing casually. And the person on the diving board is standing nervously (because high dives are, frankly, somewhat terrifying). Drawing all these people in different ways is a really hard thing to do, so kudos to Lily, who is not yet 38 years old, I believe.
Also, I like the fact that Lily was courteous enough to provide one towel for each swimmer. When Robbi and I take our kids to the pool, we often only have one towel for all five of us to share. And sometimes we forget to bring towels altogether and are forced to borrow them from generous people who happen to take pity on our cold, shivering children. It seems clear to me that Lily would never let his happen. Probably because she was raised by people who have their acts together. I am going to make a note to remind Robbi that we should try harder to get our acts together.
So thank you, Lily, for this marvelous drawing. Thank you for taking the time to send it to us. And HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you!