When Laurie and I make plans for lunch, I so look forward to the day. Our conversations are fun, serious, peppered with a few confessions and lots of solving the world's problems with our observations. What made Tuesday's lunch have a little more pop? Roger B was sitting one table over from us and he threw a balled up piece of paper at us. In those fleeting seconds of recovery from having someone throw a dry spit wad at you are insightful. I harkened back to school days and came up to the present as I began scanning the room for unruly children and I found him...only it was unruly Roger B. Great fun seeing him. Laurie and I got each other caught up with our lives and I showed her a couple of pics from our online mountain home search and she showed me a couple of pics from their latest find.
Laurie commented on one picture of a home we are considering that it looked so small. That is the mystery of NC mountain real estate. What is behind that small looking facade is usually one big ol' home on three levels with wider sq footage that isn't visible until you look to the side and the rear view of the property. When we first began our search, those homes got a quick dismissal but on the second or third look through I began to explore the value beyond a front facade and in most of these homes with basements, that sq footage isn't included for the total number in the house. So for us it has been a discovery of depth and surprise. One new listing Roy and I discovered last night truly was one of those mysteries of the landscape. While we read the overview we saw it is a home that possess the top three wants on our list but what a pleasant surprise when we began to look at the photo gallery. Instead of the usual dark woods of the arts and craftsman style, which I absolutely love, this home's colors are muted grays and whites. Gives off such a cool feeling. It has shot up into the top five of the homes we would like to see. Of course so many homes on paper, I mean on the Internet, look like they are perfect but we all know the pictures are supposed to show the good and best qualities of the home. Unfortunately most have not been schooled in the Jason Swiggart Art of Presentation and as I look through their photos I am so surprised at what has not been put away.
Looking at homes has become an addiction and researching has become my hobby because we want to be as informed as possible before looking at NC homes. I couldn't help but think as I have looked at several homes we'd like to see that started out on the no way, too small list, that we all are like that... judging a book by it's cover. Yes, I realize I have mixed metaphors but you know....I kind of like doing that. Also, I saw a documentary on how book covers are chosen. Lots of research goes into many covers but alas once a particular cover works, all others are apt to copy the look instead of developing their own unique cover. Deeper and surprising, like right now...commentary on book covers. Some of my closest friends through the years have been people I might have dismissed as too different. My goodness, Roy and I started out as total and complete opposites...I almost wrote total and complete idiots and that might be true too but we are more alike now after being married for nearly thirty seven years whether we be idiots or not. I love how Jenny Johnston can see older homes with good bones and make beautiful, modern homes from them. We are toying around with letting her do just that if the no updating needed houses don't work out for us. That's what we have to do with people, see beyond the present and look to help their future unfold into something beautiful. You know, something good. All my confusion...you know what? Someone should write a song with those words.
I am reading a wonderfully interesting book, a million little ways by emily p. freeman. I remember reading an advance on her book and since it would be sometime before it was released, I pre-ordered it from Amazon. When it came I was like, so what is this book? Then I remembered. The book is all about uncovering the art you were made to live. She has insight into such familiar passages like when Jesus washed the feet of the disciples. Along with her brilliant insights, my less than brilliant thoughts coupled with her. She writes descriptively of the bowl and dirty water as Jesus moves down the line of his friends, washing their feet. I could not help but think...did Jesus kind of laugh to Himself when he saw the dirty water thinking, hey boys, this is just the stuff of what you are made, dirt and water. Right there in that foot washing bowl a potential human being. Did He think about the blind man that we read about in John 9? Just a little dirt made into clay...healed the man's eyes. I also wonder if just but for a moment the formerly blind man thought...with all this fuss about gaining sight, blindness is better? He didn't really get a chance to rejoice or tell those who loved him...I can see and that biblical robe you're wearing is so BC. I mean really, the Pharisees are more interested in the inth degree of who and when, his parents throw him under the bus constantly repeating to the Pharisees, hey, he is old enough to tell you....don't bring us into it and he is asked to repeat his story over and over again. I love that when the whole shenanigans with the synagogue leaders are over, Jesus seeks the man out and tells him who He is and why. So much better than the Pharisees' who and when. Last Saturday Roy led the Bible study he attends at the Episcopal church and they were in Acts 7, Roy shared with me his thoughts on Stephen's stoning that it was those who he knew and had studied with that were the ones who killed him. The same practice and group is true for the blind man only he wasn't killed and sadly so many times in our modern era, this is still the painful truth, it's the ones we go to church with that can hurt us the most. David in the Psalms knew about this too. (Psalm 55:12-14) Oh, no one has done this to me...recently...just the thread that is weaving through my thoughts. Nor do I think I have done this to anyone recently...again the thread thing.
Well, I am off to get ready for jury duty. My first out here in Rancho De Five and it is the JP Court. I am so thankful we don't live in Harris County anymore and have that drive into downtown with the nightmare that is the parking garage. On my drive through on Tuesday, it was a wide open parking lot.
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