Sweet mother of drama, those teens and parents of One Tree Hill lead a crazy life. I don’t remember high school being quite like that, but it’s been a while, so probably things have changed.
This show has been my recent Netflix viewing obsession, and I just finished Season 4. Only four more seasons on Netflix, then somehow I’ll have to get my hands on the current and final season that’s airing right now.
One of my favorite parts of the show has been the relationship that’s developed, faltered, and been rebuilt or destroyed through two generations of basketball-playing Scott brothers. Basketball is a part of high school I can remember/relate to. The Boyfriend lettered in four sports, but my favorite one to watch him play was basketball. During football games, I had too many of my own things to worry about until after halftime, but during basketball season, I could sit in the bleachers with my friends and focus on the game. I like basketball anyway, because it’s fast and I understand the rules and penalties.
We didn’t play Lynne’s high school because we had a different classification, but we did play in a tournament one time in their gym. And though I don’t think Lynne ever gave a rat’s ass about basketball, she came with her camera and got a few shots. I think most of the players are so blurry that no one would recognize them unless they already knew the boys.
After all these years, I can still recognize the cheerleaders, even from the back. I was friends with some of them, and none of them behaved as wantonly as OTH’s Brooke and Rachel–that I knew of, anyway!
Lynne catches us just before we leave the gym after the game. I’m glad he and I didn’t grow up to endure the crazy, constant dramas of the OTH parents.
Now on to Season 5! I mean: On to sewing! Because I didn’t have to do anything this week for Runway Monday, but my final collection is due next week. See you on the court runway!
Writers.
Coke introduced the white polar bear can to raise awareness of the threat to the polar bear and its habitat due to climate change. In partnership with the World Wildlife Fund, Coke committed three million dollars to the campaign. Consumers reacted poorly to the Coke can, either because of their devotion to the color red or because they confused the white can with Diet Coke’s silver can. Coke stopped production of the white polar bear can and now shows the bears on the traditional red can. I’ll bite my tongue on all the things I could say about this–except to note that I loved the white can.
Art.
Adorability.
Family. Our nephew Aaron is visiting for a few days. On Monday, he, Tim, and I went to 
Home. I saw a photo online of a grouping of globes displayed in a home. I liked it, but I have only one globe. I moved it from my office to my living room and added some of my crystal balls, my Manhattan snow globe, Tom’s childhood marbles, and other globe-shaped items next to it. There are twinkly lights there, too, so the crystals glisten at night.
Friends. In addition to being my nephew Josh’s birthday, March 12 is my late friend Tim R’s birthday. We dropped by the cemetery to leave wind chimes on his crape myrtle. I wonder if they’ll still be there the next time I visit? I say that not because people steal things, the way they stole from my parents’ gravesite. The other things left over the years are all still there. I just don’t know if it’s too big to be allowed to hang from the tree. We’ll see!
The summer between my junior and senior years in high school is one I remember very well. You’d just been born in March–but in Bruce Springsteen’s homeland, so I’d only seen photos of you. When your mother said the two of you were coming to stay with us that summer, I had no idea what to expect.
And then you arrived, and I learned what parents and very fortunate aunts know: Love never divides when you give it. It only multiplies.
You had the biggest laugh, and everyone laughed with you. Your angry tears were just as booming, and your whole body would turn red with rage when you cried. I’m sorry to say, the crying made us laugh, too, that anything that small could hold so much emotion. We found our old Polaroid Swinger that summer, and these terrible black and white photos are from it. They looked fine at the time, but now you can barely see the images in person. Scanned and adjusted, they look like they were taken using some of those cool hipster applications that are all the thing these days. From the beginning, you were cutting edge and ahead of your time!
School friends came over that summer, and Debby and I had bought two big posters for coloring with felt tip pens. My poster was of fish in the ocean; hers was of flowers in a garden. We all sat around the dining room table coloring them. You’d lie next to us or sit in our laps, cooing to yourself or “talking” to us while we colored. Your presence made the days cheerful and fun (and I think it should be noted that years later, when that summer’s boyfriend had his second son, he named him “Joshua David,” same as you).
You made my last “childhood” summer magical for me, and created a love in my heart that has never diminished, never felt anything but pride in you. I love you so much and hope today you’re having a happy birthday. I’m glad to be counted among all the people who are thrilled you were born.
On the most recent episode of Lifetime’s 
His best friend was Jess, and since this photo doesn’t have names on it, I’m assuming this is Jess (on the left) with my father. It’s dated, so I know it was taken the year my father married my mother, possibly taken by my mother. Four years after it was taken, my father was in school at Alabama, he and my mother had a three-year-old and a five-month-old, and Jess died when he wrecked his car on a country road outside their hometown.
