The Turquoise Table: Finding Community and Connection in Your Own Front Yard
By: Kristin Schell / Narrated By: Ginny Welsh
Length: 2 hrs and 56 mins
Good book, but it works better if you have a yard...
Okay so, like, you simply canNOT have a Thanksgiving without being grateful for... those people you are either afraid of, or whom you avoid like the plague: Your neighbors... who can actually be some rocking creatures! The first several places I lived, I was so anti-social that neighbors waited until I moved out then began having all these jolly block parties. Now the last two places I lived were different: I actually talked to neighbors, said hello, we watched pet dogs and cats over breaks. It made all the difference to my heart.
Enter The Turquoise Table by Kristin Schell, a fellow Austinite, who writes of the concept of building a sense of true community where you live. She was raised in the good ol’ days where families had front yards they played in, ate in, chatted with neighbors in. She misses all that and takes a mighty leap: In her new home, which has a front yard, she gets a long picnic bench, paints it a chipper turquoise and begins doing crazy things like going outside, where there’s no WiFi, to read a book. She starts having her family eat out there on occasion. She begins saying hello to neighbors. And the magic starts. People are intrigued; people are homesick. And a movement has started. We can all get together and be Front Yard People again; we don’t need to be tuned-out individuals extraordinaire.
Yes, yes, I agree that this is a verrrrry short book, and yep, there’s not a whole helluva lot of real writing in here or suggestions. Mostly you’ll find Schell’s experiences with reaching out to people and, heck! It’s not that she’s even doing a lot of reaching; she’s simply making herself unattached to her technological devices and open to people who might approach her. The text is interspersed with the experiences of those who have been inspired by her and who have thus put up their own turquoise tables.
Plus there are recipes throughout that might see you through your own forays into hospitality and openness.
In this book, well, let’s be honest: It could indeed be a drawn out blog post, you’ll also find suggestions for how to manage your table, ideas that’ll help you be part of the fabric of neighborhood life. You can put a big bowl of water out by it with a canister of dog treats on it for people walking their dogs. One woman who had faith-based priorities but didn’t want to beat people over the head with: May I pray for you?!! put out a prayer box. People who had problems and needed spiritual comfort and resolve could scrawl a note with their troubles, and the woman would pray for them, for resolution, for peace towards her fellow man. Others used their tables as means of being creative, of being open, of seeing to what was important to them, whether it was set up for women to meet other women for coffee, whether cookies were baked for the kids after they’d come over to play (And that child who always sat alone during lunch suddenly become That Cool Kid Who has the Table), or whether it was for men to kick back with other men after sports... or watching sports.
Schell’s idea was such a total success that she began speaking at city engagements, and soon she attracted the attention of other groups hoping to do some good. I was particularly touched that there’s an organization that helps the homeless get off the streets, helps them develop skills... such as building and painting... TURQUOISE TABLES!
Schell doesn’t narrate this herself, which might be a good thing; dunno, never heard her on local radio/TV, but fear not: Ginny Welsh does a fine job, even adding an inflection or two where she could’ve simply plowed though a recipe, droned on about potlucks. She has warm and wry tones and while she doesn't do an amazing job, let's face it: She had less than three hours of text/finished product to work with. So kudos to her.
Nope, even tho’ I'm from around here, I’ve never been to one of these shindigs, and quite frankly I have no desire to start my own version where we live now: It’s a massive pavement and concrete-ridden apartment complex with zippo room on the balcony (A cat could fall off, for cripes sake!), and the people who live around here keep to themselves in a big and oh so crotchety way.
But maybe that’s the point? Maybe we all just long for a sense of community, long for a sense of friendship and kinship with our fellow man?
Dunno. If you have a yard, and not all of us do, perhaps this would be a fine way of enriching the lives of your family, of taking some time to nourish yourself with all that comes from friendships. Me? Not so much.
Besides, RoRo would damage the table beyond repair. ...Danged feline would probably eeeeeat it....!
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