"...all language about everything is analogical; we think in a series of metaphors. We can explain nothing in terms of itself, but only in terms of other things." (Dorothy Sayers, Mind of the Maker, 1941)
"Okey dokey.. free my mind. Right, no problem, free my mind, free my mind, no problem, right..."
"I imagine that right now you're feeling a bit like Alice, tumbling down the rabbit hole."
"Never send a human to do a machine's job."
"It's like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad..."
"Choice. The problem is choice."
"Why do you do it? Why get up? Why keep fighting? Do you believe you're fighting for something? For more than your survival? Can you tell me what it is? Do you even know? Is it freedom? Or truth? Perhaps peace? Yes? No? Could it be for love? "
"I know Kung Fu."
"You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inert, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it."
"I still like candy."
"There is no spoon."
"You didn't come here to make a choice, you've already made it. You're here to try to understand why you made it."
"Buckle your seatbelt, Dorothy, cuz Kansas is going bye-bye."
"You take the blue pill, the story ends...you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in wonderland and I'll show you how deep the rabbit hole goes."
"Welcome to the desert of the real."
"Good! Adaptation, improvisation, but your weakness is not your technique."
"What is real? How do you define real? If you're talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see, then real is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain."
"Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself."
As I pulled up to the corner of Leonard and Fuller, I couldn't help notice that the gas station to my right was eerily quiet for the 5:00 after work rush. No cars. Whatsoever. The price sign read:
Regular 299.9 Midgrade 309.9 Premium 317.9
Just below the gas prices:
32 oz. Coffee, 99 cents
Which makes it $3.96 per gallon.
Buck up, my friends. Although gas has reached $3.00 per gallon for the first time in American history, it's still cheaper than coffee!
Will you forgive me if I continue to postpone the final pictures of the attic? It has been so hot here so consistently that I haven't done all the cleaning up there I want to do before I take pictures. But really, it's done. Yes, really. C'mon - it really is!
In the mean time, I've set up shop outside in my garage and driveway. I've been filling, sanding, and staining all that trim that the Amazing Grace Elephant Company stripped for me last fall. And guess what? Out of the blue, they called me last week and picked up the last bit of my trim that needed to be stripped! I had begun to strip that last batch, but it is so time consuming. It's well worth the few bucks they charge to have it ready for me to make pretty.
So, this was the scene last weekend:
Fresh air makes it so much better. The door above is to my second floor bathroom. I have company coming this weekend, so wise girl that I am, I figured I'd better work on that one first. Gutsy, I know.
And then I filled and repaired...
And then I sanded...
And I stacked...
And in between, I got the door ready for shellac.
It's so gratifying being at this stage of the restoration project. I've been planning for this phase since spring of 2004. I've had all the materials necessary to complete the second floor - save carpeting and baseboard - for several months. I love, love making dry old wood look rich and glorious again.
I can't help thinking of God when I work on my house. I think of Ezekiel's valley of dry bones while I sand and fill and stain and finish. I think of the Shakers and their creativity, diverted from marital pleasures to design and function and beauty. I think of the forgotten, found. When I work on my house, I worship. I can't help it.
