Let's start taking care of things..

As I drove to and from the Art Institute on Saturday, I showed my granddaughter some of the sights along the way. I'm not a big sports fan, but we drove past what's left of Tiger Stadium. Detroit has a big beautiful park now, called Comerica Park.

It was built in 2000 so there was no more need for the historic Tiger Stadium, built in 1912.

I explained to my granddaughter, in my cynical way, that "that's what we do in America,,we don't take care of anything, we just replace it."

The Roman Colosseum is over 1900 years old and is still standing. But our stadium couldn't last 100 years. Tear it down,,replace it. It should be the American Motto. Maybe fit it somewhere on the dollar bill.



I hate to be sarcastic but Detroit is such an example of this. No one took care of anything and now the city is full of old houses, stores and factories. I know a lot has to do with the economic crisis that's been happening here over the years, but it seems to be prevalent here.

Obulant mansions, nestled in safe neighborhoods, now stand boarded up, decaying or burned out.

A burned out mansion sits amid garbage.

.

Can you imagine how wonderful this old house must have been at one time?

Several years ago, my x husband and I looked at a house on West Grand Boulevard. It had 6 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, a parlor, dining room, library, and a maid's quarter. It was completely fenced in and I figured I would get a watch dog to protect me.

It was priced at $120,000. It was in bad shape, but my x was a contractor, so our plan was to work on the house and renovate it while living in it. The neighborhood wasn't the best, but my dream was that maybe more people would come back into Detroit, find a gem of a house, and rebuild the city.

I'm such a dreamer. That deal fell though (glad it did, as I'm divorced from him now)..But, my heart was in the right place. It still is. I have a fantasy that all of my friends and relatives buy a whole block of houses, live there, watch over each other. That will never happen, but maybe somewhere out there, someone is doing just that.

On the way back from the museum, I wanted to show my granddaughter the school and church I used to go to.

It was a private Christian/Lutheran church and school and I went there from 1962 through 1972. Imagine my surprise when, instead of seeing a cross on the top of the steeple, I saw a crescent moon on a golden dome.

My old church is now The Quran Institute..

A view of my old church and school, taken from the alley.



The cornerstone is the only reminder of what this building used to be.

When I saw that the church and school were Islamic, I was devastated. But as I thought about it, it made perfect sense. Better to have the buildings be purchased and taken care of, then to sit and rot and decay like so many others. The neighborhood has changed from Germans and Polish, to Yemens and Syrians. I think I then was more concerned with what they did to the beautiful stained glass windows in the church. Did they paint over them (they were of Christ, Mary and the Saints)..Did they cover them? I couldn't tell from the street.

As I drove home, my granddaughter and I talked. I explained to her that she needed to begin to start taking care of her things. I too have to be more careful to take better care of my car, my home, my possessions. I was never very good at that. I tend to be messy and unorganized so how can I be upset when I see all of the neglected homes I just referenced? I have a few jobs that need to be done around my home and I'm going to work on them this spring.
But my little trip downtown will be a reminder to myself to start now.

Polymer Clay

Here are a few things I've been working on lately.

A grandmother with her three grandchildren

A pregnant mom for a cake topper


A monkey / panda bear cake topper