November is Thanksgiving time here in the US. Families find different ways of giving 'thanks'.
Serving lunches and dinners at charity homes - Clothes and toys for the poor - Donations in cash - Dinner with family and friends - are the most preferred methods of offering thanks. But my new friend Mina is warm and unique. She takes two grannies and a nephew for a special experience. I go with them too.
Colour me mine in San Jose has inviting clusters of tables and chairs. Two walls are lined with small and large white pottery and the third wall has brushes, special paints, palettes, stencils, shaped sponge dips. The wall itself is a mosaic of small coloured tiles. Each tile has a number below it. The air is vibrant with creative energy. The tables are filled with busy grandpas grandmas and kids. What are they doing??
Amma and Aunty are apprehensive. The nephew is non committal. What is this place?
Surprise! You are here to paint.
what??
yes, you pick a white pottery, you pick some colours, and you paint. says Mina with a smile.
More confusion. What do we pick? How do we paint? Will it come out good?
We pick a tray, a vase, a star and a bank car. We choose paints and brushes and say naa to stencils and shapes. Soon we plunge into the world of colours.
Conversation begins to flow.
We chat about their days of youth. Of days as working women. Of fears about shifting to a strange country. Of grandchildren and the joy of their successes. They joke. They laugh.
We leave the painted pottery carefully tagged. The pottery will be fired and glazed and kept ready for pick up in 5 days. That was a grand thankgiving. An afternoon to cherish.
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the best gift is a gift of TIME spent.
Serving lunches and dinners at charity homes - Clothes and toys for the poor - Donations in cash - Dinner with family and friends - are the most preferred methods of offering thanks. But my new friend Mina is warm and unique. She takes two grannies and a nephew for a special experience. I go with them too.
Colour me mine in San Jose has inviting clusters of tables and chairs. Two walls are lined with small and large white pottery and the third wall has brushes, special paints, palettes, stencils, shaped sponge dips. The wall itself is a mosaic of small coloured tiles. Each tile has a number below it. The air is vibrant with creative energy. The tables are filled with busy grandpas grandmas and kids. What are they doing??
Amma and Aunty are apprehensive. The nephew is non committal. What is this place?
Surprise! You are here to paint.
what??
yes, you pick a white pottery, you pick some colours, and you paint. says Mina with a smile.
More confusion. What do we pick? How do we paint? Will it come out good?
We pick a tray, a vase, a star and a bank car. We choose paints and brushes and say naa to stencils and shapes. Soon we plunge into the world of colours.
Conversation begins to flow.
We chat about their days of youth. Of days as working women. Of fears about shifting to a strange country. Of grandchildren and the joy of their successes. They joke. They laugh.
 |
| paint your pottery |
We leave the painted pottery carefully tagged. The pottery will be fired and glazed and kept ready for pick up in 5 days. That was a grand thankgiving. An afternoon to cherish.
-----------------------
the best gift is a gift of TIME spent.
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