Thursday, February 27, 2014

Still Grayish Bluish

We live in the blue house, that is fading to gray.
We have eleven hens, two bunnies, two goats, two cats, and a fish named Diego.
Peas have sprouted in a barrel.
Apples are growing in our trees.
Mice are nesting in our compost.
And a giant blue, red, and yellow robot parade float is standing in the rain.
Max is baking lasagna and making raviolis.
Alex is getting ready for class.
William bought walnut wood for a new project.
Geoff has six more weeks of crunch mode.
Maria loves garden club, Adventure Time, Blue Math group, crafting, and the prospect of sixth grade camp.
Natalie is the Chickenblogger, and she's meeting the septic man today.

Our blue house needs a fresh coat of paint, and most of us want it to be blue. Our friends who do not want it to be blue are vocal and determined, and dearly hope we will choose something subtle, like beige.

Our blue house needs a roof, and probably a ceiling where the roof leaks.

Our blue house is messy. Not condemnable... uh… well, maybe a little bit decry-able, but mostly merely teetering. I was thinking of printing out this article, which describes, and pardons, the messy home archetype... I am tempted to hand the copy to new visitors, at the door. They could sign a sort of non-disclosure-non-disdain agreement, and we could agree that our messes are of the harmless-creative-arty-absentminded variety. (This is perhaps an unfortunate loop I am trapping myself in… admitting my domestic skills are subpar, apologizing for my lack of interest in investing time in reversing the tide, then glorifying the mess as some sort of jolly reflection of greater good, when the driving truth is that I think filing paper work and putting socks in drawers is so numbingly dull, that I cannot find any means of compelling myself to care, every day, all the time, and so instead I blog, and volunteer to make soup for an interdenominational shelter, pull weeds in other people's gardens, and pretend that sewing tea towels is vital and worthwhile. It does not escape my notice that I am a very lucky woman, and maybe I shouldn't talk about messes. I feel embarrassed. Maybe I should be discrète… because shame and omission sound better in French. Maybe I should close the door on hobbies, parties, crafts, projects, tinkering, dabbling, collecting, at least until I can find my desk, repair the shutters, and manage all medical bills. Maybe I should figure out if this is a paragraph, and whether all of this actually belongs in parenthesis…)

This life is not static. It cannot be contained, it doesn't pause, and cannot be re-scripted. I think that I worry too much about how to do it right, and should just be thankful we get to do anything at all…

6 comments:

Rachy said...

I <3 your blue house :) x

Alison said...

Beige? Boring! Your house should probably be a different color on each side, to truly reflect the personalities that dwell within.

Natalie, the Chickenblogger said...

Thank you.
My heart is home.

Natalie, the Chickenblogger said...

Right? Beige? It would be impossible.
And don't think we haven't been tempted to indulge in everyone's favorite shade.
A wall for each of us, our own color(s)… it could be fabulous.

warren said...

We are too busy living to worry about the general state of our house. I mean it needs maintained but I don't apologize for its warts...we are making memories and doing things while the kids are here...I will deal with cracks and creaks and groans later!

Kim said...

I love this! You said it so well. I am working on practicing gratitude more so I will feel it more. I agree, we are lucky and our time is so short that it seems a waste to spend it cleaning up, or feeling guilty about not cleaning up.