mer-made

I just added a new job description (or life description?) to the Antinomia sub header above: mermaid. I've been mermaiding so regularly, it deserves a place there. Tonight in Torrington I broke out a 3rd bag of "Big Value 400 Pack" toy plastic gold coins, which means I've given away almost 1,000 to about 1,000 kids since New Year's Eve.

Being a silent mermaid statue provides plenty of time for observation and reflection, and I'm learning a lot. People put lovely and interesting things in my box- the money is nice but even nicer are thoughtful offerings like painted shells, mermaid earrings and hershey kisses. Inevitably something strange I never could have expected happens with every outing. Tonight I found myself at the center of a performance by what seemed like 100 dancers at a street festival. Did they choreograph knowing I'd be there? Was it a glitch in performance booking they had to work around? I don't know, but the view of a sea of joyous kids rotating around me like the Kaaba is a vision I won't forget. And burned into my heart is Stevie, a little girl who kept returning to Luna's Sea, the last time dressed as a mermaid with a doll she'd named Luna in hand. I've had some of the best and deepest conversations of my life with Stevie, with just a few spoken words exchanged.

Below: now that I've made a dressing room out of an alley, and a make-up table out of a garbage can, does that officially make me a street performer? (I hope so.) Below below: it was such a beautiful day, I made an outdoor studio on my porch to work on tail maintenance.