Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Perspective


My favorite thing to do:  looking out of a window.  Any window, anywhere.  It frames the world like art on a canvas. 

Sitting at my newly-moved desk yesterday, I was treated to a view from two windows instead of merely one.  The windows want cleaning, and I'll get to that eventually.  The screens want repairing, so I'll have to plan to get to that, too.  The important thing is the view. 

The desk now faces East.  As I understand it from family lore, my great-grandmother Caroline thought that East and North were upward facing directions--a good direction to face during wakeful hours but not during sleep (hence the foot of my bed faces West).  This is just another one of the reasons for my office move--the desk placement in the blue study room was to the South (down in Caroline's view and not positive for working) and I need to be looking out of a window to get stuff done.

Although the East window looks at the back of my tenant's trailer, I don't mind.  It also faces lots of leafy trees where birds like to sit and sing.  And it faces one of my Bottle Trees.  (Nice pictures in this post.)  Bottle Trees are a Mississippi tradition.  We put bottles on the branches of a tree near the bedroom window; the "Haints" (ghosts, demons, whatever) are attracted by the pretty glass (apparently they like blue best) and they fly upward into the bottles to check it out, whereupon they are trapped, and when the morning light shines, the Haints disappear into vapor as though they had never been.  You've gotta love a tradition that deals effectively with Haints.  I do.  I have a Bottle Tree by the front door, as well.  (My trees are made of rebar but I guess the Haints don't notice that.)



Maybe not an awe-inspiring scene but I'm enjoying it. 

The other window is to the left of the desk and it faces North (also an upward direction, thanks Caroline),  It is not exactly an inspirational view either as it looks out on the central AC unit, the clothesline (which I've been planning for years to move but I need help to do so and don't like to ask anyone), and the pump house (a place I've written about before; it has strong memories for me:  The Plastic Chair and The Bane of My Existence).  But I still kinda like this view, too.  Yesterday when I was so tired that I couldn't even think, I sat in my desk chair for a very happy half hour watching a huge chubby jackrabbit feeding on the long grass in the back yard.  I love that this place is a haven for wild things.  And I'm thinking that maybe a hanging plant pot would be nice to place outside this window, maybe something like a window box, too.  We'll see what happens.



Even when change is painful (maybe especially when it's painful), it is necessary.  Change your view, change your mind, change your fortune. 

Life is good.  There are blessings all around us.
You will never know if there are bunnies outside your window unless you remember to look for them.


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