Blue Bonnet

I saw a strange sight. I stumbled upon a story most strange, like nothing my life, my street sense, my sly tongue had ever prepared me for. Hush, child. Hush, now, and I will tell it to you.

Even before the dawn one Friday morning I noticed a young man, handsome and strong, walking the alleys of our City. He was pulling an old cart filled with clothes both bright and new, and he was calling in a clear, tenor voice:

"Rags!" Ah, the air was foul and the first light filthy to be crossed by such sweet music.

"Rags! New rags for old! I take your tired rags! Rags!" he sang.

"Now, this is a wonder," I thought to myself, for the man stood six-feet-four, and his arms were like tree limbs, hard and muscular, and his eyes flashed intelligence. Could he find no better job than this, to be a ragman in the inner city?

I followed him. My curiosity drove me. And I wasn’t disappointed.

Soon the Ragman saw a woman sitting on her back porch. She was sobbing into a handkerchief, sighing, and shedding a thousand tears. Her knees and elbows made a sad X together. Her shoulders shook. Her heart was breaking.

The Ragman stopped his cart. Quietly, he walked to the woman, stepping round tin cans, dead toys, and Pampers.

"Give me your rag," he said so gently, "and I’ll give you another."

He slipped the handkerchief from her eyes. She looked up, and he laid across her palm a linen cloth so clean and new that it shined. She blinked from the gift to the giver.

Then, as he began to pull his cart again, the Ragman did a strange thing: he put her stained handkerchief to his own face; and then he began to weep, to sob as grievously as she had done, his shoulders shaking. Yet she was left without a tear.

"This is a wonder," I breathed to myself, and I followed the sobbing Ragman like a child who cannot turn away from a mystery.

"Rags! Rags! New rags for old!" he sang.

In a little while, when the sky showed grey behind the rooftops and I could see the shredded curtains hanging out black windows, the Ragman came upon a girl child whose head was wrapped in a bandage, whose eyes were empty. Blood soaked her bandage. A single line of blood ran down her cheek.

Now the tall Ragman looked upon this child with pity, and he drew a lovely yellow bonnet from his cart.

"Give me your rag," he said, tracing his own line on her cheek, "and I’ll give you mine."

The child could only gaze at him while he loosened the bandage, removed it, and tied it to his own head. The bonnet he set on hers. And I gasped at what I saw: for with the bandage went the wound! Against his brow it ran a darker, more substantial blood: his own!

"Rags! Rags! I take old rags!" cried the sobbing, bleeding, strong, intelligent Ragman.
The sun hurt both the sky, now, and my eyes; the Ragman seemed more and more to hurry.

"Are you going to work?" he asked a man who leaned against a telephone pole. The man shook his head.

The Ragman pressed him: "Do you have a job?"

"Are you crazy?" sneered the other. He pulled away from the pole, revealing the right sleeve of his jacket, flat, the cuff stuffed into the pocket. He had no arm.

"So," said the Ragman. "Give me your jacket, and I’ll give you mine."

Such quiet authority in his voice!

The one-armed man took off his jacket. So did the Ragman and I trembled at what I saw: for the Ragman’s arm stayed in its sleeve, and when the other put it on he had two good arms, thick as tree limbs; but the Ragman had only one.

"Go to work," he said.

After that he found a drunk, lying unconscious beneath an army blanket, an old man, hunched, wizened, and sick. He took that blanket and wrapped it round himself, but for the drunk he left new clothes.

And now I had to run to keep up with the Ragman. Though he was weeping uncontrollably, and bleeding freely at the forehead, pulling his cart with one arm, stumbling for drunkenness, falling again and again, exhausted, old, and sick, yet he went with terrible speed. On spider’s legs he skittered through the alleys of the City, this mile and the next, until he came to its limits, and then he rushed beyond.

I wept to see the change in this man. I hurt to see his sorrow. And yet I needed to see where he was going in such haste, perhaps to know what drove him so.

The little old Ragman, he came to a landfill. He came to the garbage pits. And then I wanted to help him in what he did, but I hung back, hiding. He climbed a hill. With tormented labor he cleared a little space on that hill. Then he sighed. He lay down. He pillowed his head on a handkerchief and a jacket. He covered his bones with an army blanket. And he died.

Oh, how I cried to witness that death! I slumped into a junked car and wailed and mourned as one who has no hope because I had come to love the Ragman. Every other face had faded in the wonder of this man, and I cherished him; but he died. I sobbed myself to sleep.
I did not know? how could I know?? I slept through Friday night and Saturday and its night, too.

But then, on Sunday morning, I was wakened by a violence.

Light–pure, hard, demanding light–slammed against my sour face, and I blinked, and I looked, and I saw the last and the first wonder of all. There was the Ragman, folding the blanket most carefully, a scar on his forehead, but alive! And, besides that, healthy! There was no sign of sorrow nor of age, and all the rags that he had gathered shined for cleanliness.

Well, then I lowered my head and, trembling for all that I had seen, I myself walked up to the Ragman. I told him my name with shame, for I was a sorry figure next to him. Then I took off all my clothes in that place, and I said to him with dear yearning in my voice: "Dress me."

He dressed me. My Lord, he put new rags on me, and I am a wonder beside him. The Ragman, the Ragman, the Christ!

even as a non Christian
I found that quite a beautiful story
I knew what it was about as I began to read
but still ….. beautiful

Its a painting of a little girl and a young guy in ther house with a dark background. The Painter is R.Stanford. It like a seventeen or eightenth century painting. The little girl was wearing a nite gown with a bonnet hat and the guy was wearing black boots with dark pants and a dark jacket. I think the little girl had blonde hair and the guy was brunette. She seemed to be aound 6 or 7 and her was problie in his early or late 20’s . Thankyou very much if you can find it. I tried searching for it but i couldnt find anything.

Hey,you can find the exact paintings at stores like belk or anyone you know can do it..i personaly think you should be creative and make one yourself add anything personalize your way not at a store where there might be a mistake but well have a great time and i hope you take my advice you could be creative thanks.

sincerelly,
girlygirl

I have removed all of the deeper surface scratches on my car with premium polishing compound with a random orbital buffer with a cotton bonnet. now i need to work on removing minor light scratches in the paint. the polishing compound is too abrasive and just makes more of these light scratches. so what is the best scratch/swirl remover for clearcoat paint to use for this and what kind of bonnet is best to use? note that my car is silver with black racing stripes. in the silver the scratches are not even noticeable in the sun, but are visible when artificial light especially LEDs are shining on it. so that isn’t my main concern. but i have both painted black racing stripes and vinyl stripes on my car. and in the daylights i can easily see these swirls in the black and it doesn’t look good so that is what i need to work on most. so just with this information what would be best to use? Thanks

If the scratches are in only a small area then you could try a rubbing compound and then a polishing product and then a wax. Always check your progress as you go, so you do not cause more damage. Find out what products the pro’s use.There are many forums on the web. They tend to be alot better than over the counter products. If the scratches are all over the paint i would recommend that you talk to a quality detailer. It would be too time consuming without doing it by machine.By electric buffer expect to pay for a least 4 hours work for minor scratches and more if you need more than a light buff. Make sure they are qualified by asking them questions on previous work, referrals and experience.

Another option is to use a wax that hides and fills the scratches. This is only a temperary fix as it wears off in a short time and then you are back to square one . I recommend that everyone get to know your detailer. They are a great source of info on keeping your second largest investment
looking new and will give you instuctions on not getting scratches in the first place.

Or Gent, of course !!

Have to make one for my 4yr old by Sunday……….weather looks a bit shite though so I may get away it……….not artistic at all me!

okay, so. im doing an 1940’s project at school and i have to make ten artifacts about Baby Boom. I already have my ten;
Baby Diapers
Baby Carriages
Pacifiers
Clothes
Cradles
Baby Bottles
Toys
Accessories (bonnets, bows, etc.)
Baby Food (we have Gerber now; what did they have back then?! ha)
Cards (like, "It’s A Girl! It’s A Boy!" ‘Expecting..’ or baby showers in the 1940’s)

now, the problem is i have to MAKE these things! It’s going in a display and so the carriage and cradle cant be life sized, but more like a model image.
my question is HOW would you make authentic-looking items, using crafts available at local, convenient places (hobby lobby, micheals, etc.)
if you have any ideas, please help.
thanks:)b

Buy a cradle and baby bed in a miniture size and then decopage over it. Let it dry then Paint it. That way you are only using the items as a bacis frame but the painting and decorations are authentic.

We had Gerber back then, but also 90% of the mothers breat fed their infants until their teeth begand to come in. The you could feed the mashed potatoes, and other food that you could mush up.

Baby diapers, were cloth,no pampers. When the diaper was soiled it was rinsed and put into da diaper pail which made a load of laundry each day. This was when there were manual washers and to dry them you hung them on a clothsline.

A pacifer can also be made of decopage. Blow up two narrow balloons, leave one straing and wrap the other at the base so it resembles one. The take strips of paper about 2′ wide, dip in a mixture of flour and water to make a paste. Cover the balloons, until you have the results you want, and let dry / then paint the colors you choose.

Baby clothes were very simple dresses for girls and boys when they were infants. Usually with some type of smocking on them. There wer not oneies. At best there would be pj’s that had a pull sting at the bottom to keep the baby warm.

Baby bottles were glass with nipples that had to be sterilized on hot boiling water between use.

Babys wore bonnets, boy or girl. There were no bows in the hair or thos headband bows you see now.

All of these things you can look up on the internet, just enter 1940s era, or baby boomers something along that line.

things are certainly different now, but in days past life was simpler, kinder and sweeter. The pace was slower, and emphasis was put on the family at all costs.

Good luck with your report, Jackie

car started to do this after i had crashed (whilst going about 20/30mph) in the curb.its not effecting the driving of the car it just rattles at sharp corners and is getting quite annoying ! been told by a couple of people that is could be something knocking against something else? how much would it cost to get fixed?

No way to estimate the repair cost without knowing which of very many things could be wrong with it.
Take it to a garage for investigation and a quote on repair. if something is loose enough to rattle it will get worse and most likely fail.

Assuming the stroller is lined with comfortable blankets and the bonnet isn’t tight enough to choke him/her.

Don’t forget the corset you want to put on her. While you’re at it, you might as well get her a padded bra.

I’ll tell you how the sun rose,–
A ribbon at a time.
The steeples swam in amethyst,
The news like squirrels ran.
The hills untied their bonnets,
The bobolinks begun.
Then I said softly to myself,
"That must have been the sun!"

But how he set, I know not.
There seemed a purple stile
Which little yellow boys and girls
Were climbing all the while
Till when they reached the other side,
A dominie in gray
Put gently up the evening bars,
And led the flock away.

I believe that the subject of this poem is how the sun rose and set? But I have a strong feeling that that is not the subject.

I think it is about life.

Do you still use hand knitted garments for your babies or do you think its too old fashioned??
We have a tradition in our family for knitting, my grandma did for my little sisters and me, then my mum did, and they both taught me and now im doing a few items for my friend
Does anyone have any patterns for simple blankets and hats/bonnets aswell please??

Of course! I am 24 and crochet. We do not have any traditions or anything, but my son likes getting a new scarf and I make blankets. I have tried knitting, but I have only made a scarf once. I am going to keep at both and I hope to teach my kids. So no it is not old fashioned in my opinion ^^;

There is a link below to a plethora of baby related knitting patterns and one I think is cute and is rated easy.

….are you going topless?
WITH!<—-I can’t type on Easter apparently.

I wear my Easter Bonnet and nothing else all year round.