Homecoming

Two doorways.

As I knew I would, I came home after many years away. They were good hard years of some fun, some heartache, some adventure, and some travel, with much added experience. I loved it, but it was time to go home, and I knew it. So one day, on the cusp of financial ruin, I gave in to what I knew to be true, cashed my last paycheck, packed what few bags I had left in the bare sublet room I slept in because the rest of my stuff was in storage, and moved to a spare room in my moms' apartment to weather the storm. It was rough seas all the way, but that's like any real passage of time: to stick with you it has to hurt a little bit and sometimes a lot, and so it did.

Lamplight at night.

But I'm here now, and very glad of it. I know this place like a seedling knows how to grow in soil ripe for the planting. I took to it and it has, in it's own turn, taken back to me. This is my territory and my kind of land, that of my ancestors, which stretches all the way up to Canada, and I plan to savor every bit of it, like the food here that feeds my soul, because I've been cooking and serving up versions of it with home ingredients all of my life, in preparation for this time period.

Blue light, yellow light.

Stay tuned for next week's feature that I alluded to last year (http://mariedoucette.blogspot.com/2014/02/stay-tuned.html). I referred to it as obliquely and discreetly as I could, obliged as I was under certain legal circumstances with stringent conditions that had to be followed, lest I suffer the consequences that come from jumping the gun. I do not play a young man's game, my friends, and I am happy to report that particular storm has now passed, though I'm sure others will certainly follow suit, because our very human ups-and-downs are the stuff of life itself.

Curtain and window in mid-morning light.

"Bienvenue" to you, new to this here and now.
Welcome to the light that's always been.

Toys: Childhood Past (and Present)

"Winnie the Pooh, I love you!"

Staying in the country with my mom, surrounded by the people, places, and things I grew up with, I can't help the sentiments experienced by revisiting one's home. I see the edits my mom has made in her home, selecting which precious objects from our past to include, like the small, charming table lamp that also functions as a nightlight, resting on an antique wood table that sits under portraits of her as a child, her children when young, and now her grandchildren. I grew up in a bedroom that was decorated by a tiny watercolor painting she made for me of Winnie the Pooh and Piglet, both of them floating on a watery backdrop of green that stands in for a landscape. 

It's so charming, and I remember staring at that cute picture for hours as a little girl. I still love A.A. Milne's* stories and art, so much so that years later I named a special little Mal cub TeddyBear, who grew to enormous height, so lovable an animal was he (http://mariedoucette.blogspot.com/search?q=TeddyBear), plus a photo series from an adorable doll that my ex gave me from that time period, as a gift in celebration of sharing our home with this very beautiful animal (http://mariedoucette.blogspot.com/2011/10/ted-12901-102011.html).

The lamp has two modes: the tummy casts a small, cheery orange glow that babies (and little Acadian girls) can go to sleep to, or a more adult setting with an actual bulb. Now, as I go to sleep near it as an adult, I can't help but connect the objects from my past to this very real version of me as an adult who breathes art, design, and literature, so closely have they grown and interwoven together, that it makes me smile, just like it did then.  

What precious objects from your past have you saved?

 

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._A._Milne