excercising artistic expression

My dear Anonimo has quirks....just like I do :) and I love him for these quirks and so much more.

When we married, Anonimo had a wooden dining room table that he prized. After his divorce he had little in the way of furnishings and this table was one of the first things he purchased at a second hand shop.

He would lovingly clean the table top and then apply oil to make it shine. He likes a clean tabletop...one where the light reflects off the finish of the wood.

I, on the other hand, treasure irregularities and mishaps. For me a table should tell a story of all the years it has sturdily sat and provided a place for the family to gather together. A scratch? No problem says I. A hot pan scorches the corner. Ahhhh, that will always be a memory says I.

Anonimo does not treasure the irregularities and mishaps. He prefers the restored, the symmetrical, the "nice".

For many months we had that dining room table and around it sat several mis-matched chairs. As much as I might like mis-matched, I did not like those chairs. We looked at furniture store after furniture store and were aghast at the cost of chairs. Neither of us could bring ourselves to spend so much on a matching set of chairs.

A few weekends ago we stopped at a yard sale. Sitting by the entrance was one dark wood chair with a blue covered seat. A small sign was propped on the seat: Chairs $5 each, Table $35. "May we see your dining room set?"

We walked inside the small house with a very nice older man. Immediately our eyes widened in surprise. What a perfect dining room set. Gorgeous wood. The legs of the table sturdy and yet artistic. 6 matching chairs, with one of them being a "papa chair". The table had always been covered with a table pad and so the wooden top was pristine.

Total price $65.

We went home and took down Anonimo's prized first table. When we took out the leaves it shrunk into a tiny round table and we all laughed in delight at this. The mismatched chairs went into the van to go to the dump.

Getting the new table into the house was quite a chore, but Anonimo and Sardius managed. As soon as it was set up , Anonimo gathered his rag and cleaning materials and began his "artistic exercise".

To watch him clean the table is like watching a performance. He is focused and concentrated on the task, his arms and hands sweep across the table. His stands back and carefully eyes the table from every position until he finally judges it "clean".

I smile everytime I see him do this. It could be the other way around....it could exasperate me. Thank you Father that it does not.

We both came out of first marriages where we did not know what it meant to appreciate our partner and love. This time we embrace instead of exasperate.

In many ways we are so incredibly different, but in so many other ways we are perfectly matched.

eHarmony took all of our quirks and all of our qualities and shook them around and computed: Anonimo for Aletheia, Aletheia for Anonimo.

It worked, quirks and all.

Mr. Tooth Decay never sleeps

Sardius woke in the middle of the night in pain. "My teeth hurt". I was immediately pricked as I remembered that I should have taken him to the dentist month's ago to fix a cavity.

He got a little snack and took an advil and went right back to sleep.

I called the dentist and was able to get him in that day. As I left work to pick him up, I was so thankful that I have a job with flexibility (and good insurance).

The dentist worked on Sardius for over an hour and then called me in. "Now mother, I see here by this x-ray that Sardius was here last year and that we identified a cavity. I am not sure how this all slipped through the cracks, but you must remember- Mr. Tooth Decay never sleeps."

I , who hate correction or reproof, slightly simmered as his eyes gazed at me over his gauze mask. His jaw moved back and forth as he chewed his never-ending gum.

"ummm, yes."

And I walked away convicted of my pride and my procrastination. Sardius was just happy to have the tooth fixed .

Next stop was Walgreens to pick up wart medicine for his hands. We went to the pharmacist counter for a recommendation and Sardius held out his hands . The pharmacist spoke one word: "Wow."

For years he had severe eczema on his hands. Now he has wart upon warts. He bears all this beautifully. I know that I would not bear it as well. And I do not...for my warts do not show on my hands.....they attach themselves to my soul....and show in those moments when I least expect them.

Sardius' medicine will freeze off the warts in about 14 days.

What about my warts? Am I procrastinating in their removal?
What about my cavities? Am I allowing them to continue while I sleep?

I am not one to see an analogy in every situation....yet this one does hit home.

Fe Fi Fo Fum

I hear her enter by the downstairs door. Her voice squeals as she greets Sugar and showers her with love. Up the stairs she comes. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

Fe, Fi, Fo Fum I call out. I cannot help it...I hear the giant coming. She laughs as she continues to climb BOOM. Fe!. BOOM. Fi. BOOM. Fo! BOOM Fum! One last BOOM and she enters the kitchen laughing with me. "Fe Fi Fo Fum. I'mmm gonna get you!"

She is beautiful tonight...tall. Wearing new boots that she could not resist keeping on inside the house. Her hair is pulled back and she wears no make-up. Her Daddy's leather jacket is over her red and white school sweatshirt. She has painted her fingernails red and white. She is ready to go.

It is Homecoming night and Hyacinth is excited. Into the car we go and I drop Garnet and Hyacinth at the gate of the football field. I watch Hyacinth stride off as Garnet follows with a smile. The night air is very chill. Hyacinth swings my red wrap as she strides.

BANG. The downstairs door slams shut and I hear her voice squealing again with delight as she greets Sugar. Garnets voice lovingly greets Sugar in a lower tone.

There is no fe fi fo fum as she climbs the stairs this time. She has removed her boots and comes into the living room with her eyes sparkling. "I Won! We got a strike! I won!" And we all laugh with her.

"Time for bed honey". She goes downstairs and changes into her pink penguin pajamas and comes back up for a bedtime snack. She lovingly carries her baby-doll wrapped in a purple blanket, her steps very soft now as she walks in her tinkerbell socks.

How can we help but love her?

my chair

My favorite chair is dark green, It sits up high on its two rockers. I sit between the two sturdy arms and feel cradled and comfortable. We bought my chair at a yard sale a few months ago. The previous owners told me they had purchased it from the remains of an old schoolhouse. It had been the teacher's chair and upolstered in faded and torn leather. They re-upolstered it in Victorian green. My favorite part of the chair is that it rocks. Movement soothes me.

I wonder how many books were read aloud from this chair. How many children curled up in it when they were not feeling well.

From where I sit, I can look out our front window and directly through two windows of the second floor of a neighbors house. The shades are always up in my neighbors room and that allows me to view the sunrise over the Lake as if looking at a painting hanging on the wall.

This morning is still dark, the days are unveiling later. The sun begins with a blazing and deep orange that quickly fades into lavender into pink and now into the sky.

I sit in my comfy chair and view beauty through the layers of three panes of glass. And my mind can roam and come back again. My spirit can inhale the beauty of the colors.

To have a chair and a view is an important thing.

Yoda is a Republican

Last night Electrum took up his political theme again.
"Are you for McCain or Obama?"
"ummmm, I am not sure"
"I am for Obama! I don't Like McCain"
"Why is that?"
"Cuz I saw this thing and it said that McCain wants to turn all the lakes into parking lots"
choking down my laughter "well, we cannot always believe everything we read...just because someone wrote it, does not necessarily make it true."
"It is true! I saw it!"
"well......."
"You are for McCain!"
"I did not say that."
"you don't think it is true so you are for McCain"

When oh when will I learn to just say hmmm and unhuh etc?

Sardius pipes in "Mom, would you ever forget that you are a Christian and tell someone you are a muslim?"
"What!?, of course not."
"Obama did. "J" heard it on the radio"

"Boys, lets take a moment to talk about our reasoning skills and common sense. "

.................

After a while of productive conversation on discerning truth, Electrum propped his Yoda backpack up in his lap.
"Yoda is a Republican. He is part of the republic so he is a republican. He will vote for McCain."

We have been waiting for Emerald to finish volleyball practice. She bounces into the van and Electrum pounces.
"Are you for McCain or Obama?"
"Hunh? what?"
"Who are you for?! McCain or Obama"
"Neither"
"You have to be for one!
" No I don't, I am not old enough to vote, and well, I don't think about those things"
In an aside to me "why is he talking about this stuff?"
I shrug my shoulders

Electrum "Can I vote?"
"No honey, you have to be 18 to vote"
"Why?! I can vote. I know who I want"
"Well, the government has decided that 18 is the age that people can vote"
Electrum gives a big harrumph and slouches down in his seat with Yoda the Republican.

Emerald: "Do you know what John Quincy Adams and John Adams have in common?"
"They were father and son."
"Well duh, everybody knows that."
"Oh"
"They were both cranky presidents. They were cranky all the time"
"Hmmmmm, interesting" I say with raised eyebrows.

We are almost home.

Electrum: "I can't remember which one, maybe it was Al Franken or Bill Clinton, but they were murdered."
Sardius and Emerald in unison "Abraham Lincoln!"
Electrum , his face firmly set "no not him, I know it was Al Franken or Bill Clinton...somebody killed them. We have been talking about President's at school and my teacher said."

We all pile out of the van.

the joys of parenting?