THE NOSEY NEIGHBOR, June 6, 2020

UNLOCKING THE SECRET

“Be still and know that I am God...” Psalm 46:10.

This verse always stops me in my tracks. It has been with me since youth.

It is fun when the neighborhood reveals something you have not seen before.

I get giddy with excitement and love looking at my photos of the day. I love looking back, remembering each of the steps I’ve taken along the way.

I am attracted to everything in my neighborhood, but this morning I was especially intrigued by doors to anywhere. Each perhaps speaking volumes of the people behind the door.

I have recently been compelled to photograph these doors.

It is fun to guess what secrets and mysteries may be hidden on the other side. I guess I never lost the curious stage of life.

I have come upon some interesting doors. I have a thing for doors and like to take photos of them, leaving the world on the other side to my imagination.

I have read stories of secret gardens behind doors and I found two. Something about their secluded nature makes them just a little bit magical and perhaps an ideal place for quarantine. I imagine a place all my own. A magical little oases that calms the soul. I dream of creating my own.

One of my favorite fictional walled secret gardens would have to be in Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden.

What is it about doors that fascinate many of us? They beg to be opened. They incite curiosity. It’s the intriguing entrance. A call to roam, a call to explore. Keeping it a little hidden adds to the mystery, to the secrecy of it.

Many are art forms, in and of themselves, with elaborate architectural embellishments.

Imagine my surprise, as I happened upon an unassuming weathered door this morning, charming and captivating leading into some sort of secret garden.

“If eyes are the windows to the soul, then doors are definitely the first glimpse into the heart of a home.”

Sometimes I fantasize , I am Anne of Green Gables.

Anne tells Marilla that she is

“so tired of everything sensible,” and that she is going to let her “imagination run riot all summer.” The health of her imagination keeps her going.

I am not promoting here imagination as a way of escape but it does enrich beauty and happiness. No, I do not have Alzheimer’s but I do like to step into the world of confabulations from time to time.

Anne notices the beauty of the landscape and seasons that many of the townspeople take for granted.

One of my favorite quotes from the book:

“Isn't it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive--it's such an interesting world. It wouldn't be half so interesting if we know all about everything, would it? There'd be no scope for imagination then, would there?But am I talking too much? People are always telling me I do. Would you rather I didn't talk? If you say so I'll stop. I can STOP when I make up my mind to it, although it's difficult.”― Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

“When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us ”— Helen Keller

It has been a very noisy morning. Next door is getting ready for its next occupants.

The large orange tree that has been there for at least 44 years, has come down. It is a historical event for us. The brick wall between our houses will be getting a privacy panel extension to accommodate further social distancing at the landlords expense.

It is a big mistake to skip that early “morning watch” walk. You either forget about it or make it up later in the day. The quietness is a chance to quiet my thoughts. To regulate my emotions, to make an appointment with God.

I did not miss my early photo walk this morning.

3Laurie Ransom Price, Pat Binns and 1 other

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