All Prairie, All Personality

Prairie, in one of her rambling monologues . . .

“I want to be a Mama President when I grow up. I guess I will be a mama first since I have to wait until I’m 35 years old to be president. But I am fairly attractive so I will probably get married young.”

. . . . . .

We were all piled in the car driving home, and Sid read “facts” we were taught in school that are no longer true, like Pluto being a planet.

Prairie pipes up, “Hey, y’all, I have a scientific fact that I learned just now. When you hum with your mouth closed, the sound comes out your nose.”

Sid “Well, you could say that a little bit of sound comes out your ears.”

Prairie, deciding to test this new theory right away, uses her hands to cover up her ears. Realizing she is short a third hand, she demands, “Rachel, grab my nose!”

. . . . . . . .

Prairie – “you know what”

Sidney – “Prairie, what is ‘you know what’?”

Rachel – “She means sex.”

Sidney – “Prairie you use ‘you know what’ to mean a lot of things”

Prairie – “Well then, I’ll say ‘YOU KNOW you know what”

. . . . . . . . . .

Prairie, “Life would be so much easier if we were all nudists. I mean like everybody would be all the same, right?”

Me, intrigued, “In what ways do you think life would be easier?”

Prairie, coy and giving me a look of tolerance, “Mama, it is complicated,”

Infinite Christmas

Relaxed around the Christmas table, warm, replete,

all the time in the world to think of bigger things,

we are the privileged ones.

“There are different kinds of Infinity,” my son said.

His brother’s face reflects my own disbelief.

But isn’t Infinity infinity?

Eager, my son jumped up and drew a number line on the dining room chalkboard.

“The Infinite set of all numbers between zero and one

is larger than the Infinite set of all whole numbers,” he insisted.

How can this be?

Surely it is impossible,

a definite boundary,

the boundary beginning with zero and ending in one,

is no boundary at all.

It is both and.

I like to think that Love is Infinite.

At least some Love is, the cynical part of me whispers, but

Other people hoard something they call Love, yet . . .

Are there different kinds of Love?

That boundary I find impossible to scale,

that wall I build between me and the other,

can Love expand, fill it up and move beyond,

a limitlessness existing within imposed limits?

Easier to understand what is finite, within lines, boxed, defined.

We are primed to expect scarcity —

The beginning and ending of a life,

the last brownie in the pan,

a few dollars in the bank account,

Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches in a terrarium,

laughing together as we pull mystery gifts from stockings,

this is what we know.

We speak of Infinity and Love

as if they can be defined and explained.

We do the same with Truth

and Paradox.

My tongue cannot speak of these things,

my lips unable to form their shape,

They are beyond the veil

but I divine their presence,

an umbilical cord connecting me to

Whom I came from,

who confined Himself to flesh and blood,

to the margins of zero and one,

yet human life could not restrain

Her

He showed Herself to be

Infinity, Love, Truth, Paradox

with a beating heart, dusty feet, gentle hands,

a tired sigh,

so ordinary to the naked eye

with the vibrations of extraordinary

for the attuned ear.

This is also what I know —

If my Love feels small and limited,

let’s say that on a scale of 0 to 10,

I feel caught between zero and one.

And yet,

perhaps,

maybe

my stingy, narrow Love

is also boundless and all-encompassing,

as beyond comprehension

as Infinity between zero and one.

Yet more quotes from the Gaskins household

From Home with Love . . .

“There is a mob at the White House saying that cows should have bathrooms.” Rachel

“It is called the butternarchus butterfly. It likes to eat honey butter.” Prairie

“Fortunately, the brick houses might possibly be mostly safe.” Rachel

“However, the policemen were no match for the pigs.” Prairie

“Then unthrow-it away.” Lincoln

“Hey guess what? Let me tell you a legend about earwigs!” Rachel

“This chair may be haunting my spirit.” Rachel

“… and virtue is properly manliness!” Rachel

More Non-Contextual Sentences

POSTED BY LINCOLN

From Home with Love…..

“Let’s chipuff up!” Lincoln

“… except without the exposure of the bellybutton.” Rachel

“Hey! I was going for a Psych fish bump!” Lincoln

“I might hate them.” Rachel

“Well get them un-wet!” Rachel

“I might really want to read that.” Rachel

“So they’re underdeveloped-pea brains.” Lincoln

“How do you eat milk?” Linc and Rachel in perfect (and unplanned) unison.

“Hey, why is the garden on fire?” Rachel

“Christmas comes with spiny cheer.” Lincoln

“It says bug poison, not human poison.” Lincoln

“This is playing weirds with my trung!” Lincoln

“What is the biggest cookie dough?” Rachel

“OK well, the flat seventh means a campy Ionian.” Lincoln

“… then it will, like, superly glow.” Prairie

A child’s letter to Mr. Trump

Mr. Trump

My name is Prairie G—–. I am 10 years old and in the 4th grade.

Presidents are fair, and try to make their best choices. So if I was gonna be president, I would be prepared.

You might think that I am out of my mind.

I wish you good luck in the election.

If you win the election, I hope you will try to be nicer. Because on TV you seem angry and rude.

Please take care of the people and be careful.

Thanks, Prairie

PS Don’t bother to send back. Unless you really need to.