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04/30/2004: "The kindness of strangers..."

Tonight I came home from the sailboat cleaning party (we never actually made it out sailing as there was no wind) and there was a package strapped to my mailbox. It was from my friend Kira that I actually met through this blog. She does facepainting and just from writing to her about it awhile ago I got really excited to try my hand at it myself. I thought it would be great to get started like she did, by volunteering to do it for free for children either in a hospital or shelter or some other situation where kids need uplifting. The only problem was the finances, and the fact I started my spending hiatus until the end of May.

Well, as you may have guessed by now, the package was full of facepainting stuff...a great hardback book called "Creative Facepainting: Instruction and Inspiration", a facepainting kit from Snazaroo, also glitter, a mirror, two nice brushes for doing detail work, and a couple of sponges for doing the base coat. I am so touched that someone I've never met would go to all the trouble of putting together this great package of goodies and then mail it to me in Alaska all the way from Rhode Island.

It is such a kind and generous thing to do that it has motivated me even more to learn how to do this, so that I can volunteer to help bring a little happiness into someone else's life. There is a group here in Juneau that works with developmentally disabled people and I know someone who works for them that says they would just love something like this and that they wouldn't be critical if it wasn't perfect. I can't wait to try and set that up. When you do something to make the world a better place, the ripples will keep going out...ya know?

Anyway, that was really incredible so thank you Kira!

On another note, below are some photos from tonight at Fisherman's Bend where we spruced up the High Noon for another season of sailing.

Jesse and Gerald scrub a dub dubbing the foreward deck.


Jeff and Melissa spray down the hull after Jesse gave it a good scrubbing.


Skipper Karen shows Jennifer and Jacqueline how to put the lines back through the traveling car.


I took the first shot from the other side of the doc, that's Melissa in the pink, I can't remember the name of the girl in the grey t-shirt, she's not a regular member of the crew, the white shirt is Iona, then Karen, and gerald in yellow; and the second photo is one of Jennifer smiling (with Blink II framing) while reattaching the gib sheet and that's Jesse again in the background.