Anything Can Be!

"There's too many kids in this tub.
There's too many elbows to scrub.
I've just washed a behind
I know wasn't mine.
There's too many kids in this tub!

~Shel Silverstein

I can remember these triple baths just like yesterday. In the photo, Mark was maybe one or less. That would make Mike two, and me three years old. We grubbed around the back yard of our place on North Rural Street with our Matchstick cars until there wasn't a blade of grass anywhere. I imagine we were pretty grimy during warm weather when we could stay out and play. I can remember how my own son looked after a hard day at play and we had grass. Sometimes I could only recognize him by his smile!

But the main purpose of this entry isn't about bath time or my life on North Rural. It's to pay a small tribute to a very talented man that we lost in 1999 to a heart attack.

I loved Shel Silverstein's work even before I knew who he really was. Remember "The Unicorn Song" by the Irish Rovers? Shel wrote the song--lyrics and music. He also wrote "The Cover of the Rolling Stone" and "A Boy Named Sue". Besides being talented at writing songs, he also illustrated his books of poems. I've got two of his CDs--one is the songs of Shel Silverstein and the other is a CD of Shel reading his poems. He just doesn't recite his poems--he puts his wonderful personality into it.

Check out Shel's website at http://www.shelsilverstein.com/. And here are two more of my favorite Shel poems.

Listen to the MUSTN'Ts, child
Listen to the DON'Ts
Listen to the SHOULDN'Ts
The IMPOSSIBLES, the WON'Ts
Listen to the NEVER HAVES
Then listen close to me -
Anything can happen, child
ANYTHING can be!



All The Woulda-Coulda-Shouldas
Layin' In The Sun,
Talkin' 'Bout The Things
They Woulda-Coulda-Shoulda Done...
But All Those Woulda-Coulda-Shouldas
All Ran Away And Hid
From One Little Did.