Summer Chrome

"Seed head" sculpture, constructed of stainless steel and Austrian crystal by Jeff McCann for San Jose's Public Art Program

Friday evening something really cool happened. I was taking Cheri for a walk several blocks from my house, and had just turned a corner when I saw a couple of young kids playing outside. A little boy about four, and a girl around the age of six. The kids saw Cheri and ran down to the very edge of their yard, asking what her name was. The little boy was especially excited and animated. As he began jabbering away, I saw the front door of his house open, and his mother emerged. She was friendly and relaxed as she came over, both to keep tabs on the kids and make sure they weren't holding me up.

Suddenly the little boy reached down and pulled a dandelion seed head out of the ground and said to me, "Do you want a wish?" Well, of course I wanted a wish! So the boy handed me the dandelion, grinning from ear to ear, saying, "Here's a wish!!" I could hardly believe my good fortune, to be given such a magical gift in such a spontaneous way as this. I closed my eyes and made my wish with gusto, and then blew the dandelion seeds away.

I told the boy I was going to keep the stem and think about my wish until it came true. The little boy then showed me something amazing. Well, to him it was amazing, and wonderful. He showed me how I could use my dandelion stem as a **"straw"**! He was thrilled by this. He put his dandelion stem up to his lips to demonstrate.

I thanked the little boy for this knowledge. Then he wanted to show me how fast he could run. He ran back and forth across the yard. Then his sister ran back and forth, to show me how fast she could run. (Not very fast.) The mom said, "They could do this all day." I told her I understood, I had two little girls of my own, that weren't that little anymore.

I finally went on my way and waved good-bye to the little boy and his sister. I put the stem in my back pocket. When I got home, I took it out, and of course it was all shriveled up and had turned black. But I put it in a special little box on my dresser. I'm going to keep it. It's not every day that you meet a wish-giver as you are walking down the street.