It Takes A Village To Keep Warm

The last five years I have put up what I call “Project Warmth” on the front gate of our house.  We live on a very busy corner – cars drive by all hours of the day and night, and there are often people on foot and bicycle who pass, too.  I learned through experience that some of those who walk past are homeless.  And many who walk by, though they may have a roof over their heads, are barely making ends meet.  So, things like thick coats, warm sweatshirts, cozy hats and scarves, and a nice pair of mittens or gloves for themselves or their children are sometimes not possible.  They make do with what they have, even in the middle of a cold winter.

So, to try and help out with that problem, for “Project Warmth” I hang cold weather gear on our front gate.  There are signs (both in English and Spanish) telling passersby that the items are free for the taking, and that they should pass them along to someone else when they no longer need them.

View of Project Warmth from our front porch - every morning when I wake up the first thing
I do is see if there are still items hanging out there!

The first couple of years I did this project I worked from a large box full of sweaters that my dad had cleaned out of his (huuuge) sweater collection.  I also had some coats and hats I had collected to give to homeless people in DC.  Those items, coupled with a some of our own things that we wanted to give away, got us through the cold weather giving season.  But this year, even though I cleaned out my closets and baskets full of hats and gloves, I didn’t have enough to keep the gate supply going.

So, I leaned on my neighbors.  I posted in a neighborhood “Buy Nothing” group and asked if people had items to contribute.

And boy did they!  I have received donations of very, very warm coats.  Of brand-new hats and mittens.  Of scarves and gloves and every color and size.   There have even been gorgeous HAND KNIT pieces donated!!  And, unlike the normal set up in the Buy Nothing group, instead of me driving to the giver’s house to pick the items up, many people dropped them off right at my house!! 

It has been incredible.  Instead of having just 1 item on the fence at a time, this year I have been able to put out 3 at a time!!  Usually the gate gets cleared off twice a day (sometimes I put items out at midnight and they are gone when we wake up!).  I am so grateful to my neighbors for being kind and generous.  With the community’s support, we have helped people stay at least a little bit warmer this winter.

The bin of warm donations for the front gate is OVER FLOWING, and that is after
giving many, many away already!  

It takes a village.  And I am honored to be a part of mine.

(Here is a piece I wrote about Project Warmth in 2016:  Project Warmth - Warm Kindness

Look Up

Life lessons sometimes come in tiny pieces.

Today I learned – don’t look down, look UP.

The past couple of days I have been sad, really missing my sissy Annette.  My other sister, Sherry, and I really felt like we got a couple of “messages from the great beyond” from Annette when Sher and I were together recently in DC.  But after Sherry went back home, I felt alone.  No sisters, no messages. 

So, I decided that there HAD to be a message, I was just MISSING it.  The universe didn’t want me to be sad, I reasoned, I just need to FIND THE MESSAGE.  And (because I am apparently the controller of all things coming from the great beyond…) I decided that the message would be in the form of a painted rock. 

So, I walked around for a few days with my head down – looking at rocks.  I turned rocks over (“Surely the OTHER side is painted!” I would think.  Then flip the rock.  Only to be disappointed twice – by the same dumb rock.)  As I continued to hunt, I quickly grew frustrated.  Almost no one in my area paints and hides rocks.  “Maybe this Spring I will find her message on a rock…” I thought, then quickly counted an imaginary calendar in my brain and realized how far away Spring is.  Sigh. 

Only, you see, that’s not how messages WORK.  You can’t WILL them to appear.  You can’t wish and hope and squeeze your forehead so tight in concentration that BAM – the message is there.

Instead you have to open your heart.  Your soul.  And your EYES.

Today I spent the day playing tourist in my own city.  I had a fabulous day.  It was very warm out and I walked and walked and walked.  I treated myself to several outdoor sculpture gardens.  I breathed in the sunshine.  And I took a stroll around the Hirshhorn, a fantastic art museum in DC.  I looked at the current exhibits listed on a sign and set my sights on seeing the Marcel Duchamp work.  I don’t know why I picked that one, I have no particular affection for Duchamp.  But I moseyed around the museum looking for that exhibit. 

And right before I found what I was hunting for, I looked up to see this – a painting by Alberto Giacometti. 

My Message

I examined it.  I enjoyed it.  Then I looked at the plaque to read about it.

"Annette", by Alberto Giacometti 

The painting’s name is ANNETTE.

Annette. 

There it was – my message.  She was there.  She was smiling.  And of course, I smiled too.  And when I told my sister Sherry about my message and showed her the photos, she pointed out that not only was the painting the same NAME as our sister, it was painted the SAME YEAR OF HER BIRTH, 1961!!

I spent the rest of the day looking up.  Rocks were under my feet, and maybe I passed a message or 2 painted on them and didn’t see, who knows.  But I had gotten my message.  In fact, I got a second one when I looked up to double-check my item on a menu board and realized the café I had chosen to eat at today was called “The 3 Sisters”.

Today’s life lesson seems easy but was tough to figure out.  LOOK UP.  You can’t “will” things your way, but if your eyes are pointed the right direction, you won’t miss the messages.