Chicken feet for the Soul

THE broom finally has to go, she says, because the more you now sweep the floor with it, the more the floor needs sweeping. The straws would break easily into loose strands, leaving more litter rather than cleaning them with each brush against the tile.

But elsewhere in the house a lot of other things have endured. An old dusty set of Christmas lights – the bulbs set on a bushy wreath the size of a dinner plate – brightens up our doorstep for the eighth straight year now.

The fridge has far outlasted the warranty, though it now makes churning, rattling sounds from its belly, and a pattern of rust has crept up about an inch from the bottom of the door, eating away at the white coating. The PC has continually defied age and viruses after three or four trips to the shop, bringing home a refreshed memory for newly downloaded games from each trip.

The gaunt face of Christ with eyes closed shut – an oil painting I did five or six years ago – still rests on the floor, leaning on the wall at the stairway landing, still without a proper frame or hook for hanging and perhaps better off with none. For just by being there, not far from the foot rug, it has made me watch my step. After every few months or so I would find the necessity to wipe dust off the canvas, after which the deep reds and grays and whites on the bony cheeks would reemerge, and so would that streak of blue on the brow and the blackness of hair. The Nazarene’s eyelids would again seem heavy with prayer and fatigue.

Bottles of wine received in excess two to three Christmases ago continue to age in the cupboard. An old stack of IHTs still crams the legroom under the computer table. Certain books appear to have taken permanent residence in the backseat of the car. And gladly we have never had the need to use the fire exit; the hinges may now need oiling.

Each yearend, for many a celebration of life starting anew and throwing out the old, can also be a good time to look back and appreciate the fine things that have lain undisturbed or undiminished.