The kids are all right and so are the adults

Now whenever I look at clouds, I associate them with Joni Mitchell strumming her guitar, long hair flowing. "Both Sides Now," yep. But even the character Tom Hanks played in You've Got Mail found the lyrics a trifle dense.

Of Joni's many songs (yes, I'm on first name basis with her as with Emily Dickinson, Mary Oliver, pianist Maria João Pires and all these women and men who have spoken to my soul and cut me to the quick), "Amelia," "Help Me," "Blue Motel Room," "Circle Game" and, yes, "Hejira" throw me back decades of Thursdays to my youth. So news of her being taken ill and the unclear pronouncements about her recovery have kept her in my mind, even as I go through my day alone or with people.

Yesterday the kids (Kimi's Kai and Sinag's Dakila) played for much of the morning, their mothers and one grandmother trailing behind them. Sinag is godmother to Kai.

Oh Joni, you always know what to say.

Yesterday a child came out to wonder
Caught a dragonfly inside a jar
Fearful when the sky was full of thunder
And tearful at the falling of a star

Then the child moved ten times round the seasons
Skated over ten clear frozen streams
Words like when you're older must appease him
And promises of someday make his dreams

And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on the carousel of time
We can't return we can only look
Behind from where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game

Dakila and The Wee One hit it off very well, indeed, after a night's sleep.

With their respective mothers, Sinag and Kimi

Oh yeah, swings have an eternal appeal to any kid. Photos by Booboo Babeth