thugs making rugs this morning i drive an hour and a half to see one of my kids - an 18-year-old boy in residential drug rehab. he's essentially and orphan - his mom, stepdad, brother and stepbrother have all died, and he doesn't really have a relationship with his biological father. he has a history of felony charges, mostly related to burglaries that seemed like a good idea when he was high. he's from "the bottoms," which is sort of a violent, appalachian ghetto at its worst, and his family has had a lot of violence. (his older brother threatened my life at one point.) but this kid is one of the gentlest, most responsible kids i know. the staff at his treatment facility never have any concerns, and he's a role model for the other kids. anyway, i was talking to him about his schedule this morning, and he mentioned that every afternoon he does "clean and sobers." clean and sobers are activities to practice having fun without using drugs. i asked him what he does, and he says, "watch movies, play board games, crochet..." as it turns out, my boy is a crochet maniac. he's made fluffy yarn pillows for his sisters, and showed me the most beautiful afghan that he's working on. the kid is a crafting genius! (i crochet, but i really only have the patience for hats and scarves.) his counselor told me that all of the boys are doing it, and they call it "thugs making rugs." that was, most definitely, the highlight of my day.