In church on Sundays the prayers ask us to reflect on what we are grateful for in our lives. Things come and go, but I am often feeling blessed for experiencing colors. There are those who are born without it and there are diseases that will take it way. Apparently the latter fall into depression as their world enters a place of grays. We grow up thinking everything witnesses the world as we see it. But that is far from the truth. There are blind cave critters. Birds and insects stretch out a visual spectrum wider than ours. But in the world of mammals it is rare to see as much color as we do. Some distant relative of a primate had a mutation and ran with it. We are blessed to see this world, even if at times they see horrific things. I created the above piece to celebrate my neighbors surviving a fire and returning to be our neighbors. Five family homes, connected by the walls of a row house and the trauma of a fire, became a place for me to create a rainbow. Thinking about colors reminded me of this piece. For it is a single piece whether it spread among five families or placed on etsy to raise money for the firefighters that caught my eye.
Yesterday Mosaic Woman and I went to find some glass to cut up and place into the 25 picture frames she was commissioned to make. One source is to find a cheap frame at a thrift store. Yesterday we found one which framed these words:
1.
And if you be unwilling to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
Joshua 24:15
2. I am sure if I read what surrounded this verse it may change my impression, but for now I like the openness of what this one verse expresses. As for me, who or what we choose to serve is not as important as what that decision leads us into and how we respond once we get there.
3. I live in a one bedroom two studio house. We are beginning to wonder why we sleep in the largest of the three.
4. The houses that caught fire last March. Two of the five have been inhabited once again. Finally the other three are being reborn. These construction dudes are showing up when I leave for work and are wrapping things up after I get home. I would be so cold and tired. I hope they have warm houses to go home to when their work is done.
5. The house of our dreams would be a Craftsman with funky paint on the outside and amazing woodwork inside:
A porch was on our wish list when we finally decided to buy a house. We found a street filled with them. These porches fill up when a summer thunder storm stops the flow of electricity or when trick-or-treaters in the hundreds storm down our street. Across the street the porches are scarred.
Yesterday I walked across the street and extended my hand to a man, whose three daughters fill these porches with play. Today as I left the house to run errands, I saw the woman who sits on her porch reading.
I walked across the street and listened to her story. "May you never experience such a thing... " She starts the conversation with a blessing.
She came home late that evening and smelled smoke. Now she runs through the what ifs... if only I had... if only I had...
The night of the fire, I watched as the policeman smashed through her front door. Apparently I had left the window when he carried her out preventing her bare feet from being cut by the glass.
She invited me to enter her house, but I declined, then she shows me a tie rack and a song comes to mind. I will never tell someone who has lost material objects that they are only things...
As I listen to Lyle Lovett sing, I wish I had stepped inside that house...
That picture hangin' on the wall Was painted by a friend He gave it to me all down and out When he owed me ten Now it doesn't look like much I guess But it's all that's left of him And it sure is nice from right over here When the light's a little dim
Step inside my house Babe I'll sing for you a song I'll tell you 'bout where I've been It shouldn't take too long I'll show you all the things I own My treasures you might say Couldn't be more'n ten dollars worth But they brighten up my day
Here's a book of poems I got From a girl I used to know I guess I read it front to back Fifty times or so It's all about the good life And stayin' at ease with the world It's funny how I love that book And I never loved that girl
Hold this piece of glass Up to the light comin' through the door It's a prism glass I found on the road Can you see that little rainbow Well it's not really a prism I guess It just broke in a funny way I found it on my way from Texas Headed for L.A.
This guitar was given me By old man Thomas Gray It's not too much to look at But I pick it every day It's been across the country Four or five times I guess Between me and old man Tom It never got much rest
Well that's about all I own And all I care to I guess Except this pair of boots And that funny yellow vest And that leather jacket and leather bag And hat hangin' on the wall Just so it's not too much to carry Could I see you again next Fall
