Debby on..Panchen by Katy..and other things..

It’s my favorite time of day, the time when I am the most creative, the time of day the words flow out of me. I am a solitary writer. Rick is an interactive reader. Since our computers are nearly side by side in the library, after he’s up checking the latest news, it’s more difficult to write. To give you an idea, a tour of the library..

As you enter the front door of our very small home – 1200 square feet to be exact – here’s the view on the left..

The above open doorway is four feet wide and showcases the floor to ceiling shelves, both open and behind cabinet doors. Entering the room, opposite the doorway is a french door which opens to the deck extending around 3 sides of our home.

Continuing in a counter-clockwise motion (just as Tibetan Bons circle stupas while praying), the fourth wall is comprised of our computer stations.

The room looks much cozier now. These photos were taken right after the room was finished. Rick no longer sits on a kitchen chair. His office chair, while not antique like mine, is similar. There’s a leather reading chair in the right hand corner next to the french door. The shelves are full to the brim. The computer equipment has changed and grown. Looking out the french door, I see the 4-Runner (the vehicle I should have purchased when Rick exchanged it for his large-bed Toyota Tundra), Suzanne without her silver hub-cabs purchased on her 200,000 mile birthday and, farthest, a teen-age boy’s rendition of Ota Toyota The Rubber Queen. Ota, parked under the Rough Road sign (no, I didn’t ask where it came from..didn’t want to know) still sports roll bars topped with off-road lights. You can bet a doll’s arm was still hanging out of a heater vent on the dash! And echos of Beastie Boys and Nine Inch Nails! Those were racier days for Ota. She’s now a refined city girl, getting lots of beauty rest.

I made a page about this entire scenario for a book I gave Nate for his 21st birthday. The library had been Nate’s room. Within five days of dropping Nate off in Tucson at the University of Arizona, we had his room gutted, temporarily organized as the office and Rick started building the cabinets. Sacrilege! We had discussed this with Nate for months. He never objected. I remember phoning him to talk about it one last time (probably as Rick was ripping up that awful lime green shag carpet!) to make sure it was okay. In no uncertain terms he said, “mom, I don’t live there anymore!” Alrighty then!

A few weeks later Nate phoned us to tell us about something he’d just read. In preparation for family weekend, UA had given information and guidelines to students. Rule #3: Most important to remember is your parents probably miss you as much as you miss them. While you get to move into a new space they have to deal with a huge gaping hole where your bedroom used to be….unless they fill said hole with a new office in which case they will never realize the psychological damage they have done.

Nate thought that was very funny.

Once again, I started out with this entry simply to let you know I worked on the website yesterday. I’ve rewritten the homepage and am working on updating the intros into each main section. Put the Pen to the Paper is undergoing a complete renovation. This morning, laying in bed, deciding if I should try to fall back asleep, the words started pouring out. I know what I want to write on the Veterinary page! Up I got, put on the coffee, started preparing the dog food, came in here to post Katy’s completed painting of Panchen and next thing…I’m writing about Libraries and Beastie Boys!

HERE”S BLIND TRAVELIN’ SILVER DOG BY KATY WIDGER

Have you been to Katy’s? If you haven’t, you must! That link will take you to her main page – Katy Widger – paintings in oil and paintings in hand-dyed fabirc. From there you go to Katy’s various areas of interest, learn about her goat products, her books and, most importantly, more about her. In her Raindance Journal, she writes from her heart so beautifully.