Fruit of the Loom

Fruit of the Loom dedicated to TH

Days grow shorter; darkness falls upon the city earlier and earlier…..

Today a colleague shared his abundance of produce; the black seedless grape.  My newly purchased bright yellow banana looks dull in comparison.  It fact, it looks quite bored with its own existence. 

Yellow. Purple. Complimentary colours. Colours of disease.   Colours of transition.

The grapes are unexpectedly crunchy.   Mini explosions in my mouth one after the other.   A wet crunch.  A swoosh.  Another aural delight.  I love unexpected sensations.

One such surprise is, that I look forward to moving into a teeny tiny apartment after having had 5 rooms all to myself for the last 12 years.  Imagine that?  I am really a New Yorker now!

I am currently paying two rents for two separate apartments.   The one I live in, and the one I haven’t moved into yet.   One is in an old house with loads of character, detail and history, the other feels like a fantasy dollhouse.  Not exactly Barbie, certainly not Dressy Bessie, maybe something more like a vintage collector’s item. 

The decision to move was quick, almost overnight.  It was unexpected and because of urgency I picked one of the first apartments I saw.  I know the owner of the building.  In general, I like a personal touch.  I like to know who I am dealing with.  The owner happens to be my real estate broker of many years, someone with whom I have a pleasant history with. 

I’ve seen the apartment four times already.  And each time I notice a detail I hadn’t before.  I even feel paranoid that someone has put it there after each departure just to toy with me.  How does a visual artist miss such details? 

When I first saw it, there were drop cloths everywhere.  It was being painted and in reconstruction mode.  My memory only recorded the original tile in the bathroom and the detached tub with CLAW FEET!  I saw many bubble baths in my future and enjoyed visions of just hanging out in my tub…..with fluffy down pillows reading classic novels again and again and again.  And next to it, maybe I’d place a tiny little pedestal for my Chihuahua to curl atop with its own miniature claw feet; perhaps they should be Great Dane front paws! to nap as I entered in and out of the many dramas, romances and mysteries in future’s pasts.   How delish.

I DID NOT notice the floral glass pane on the bedroom door! It’s only about 2x3 feet, very hard to miss because it’s only at eye level! And the window pane in the door from the hallway entrance to the living room.  Really?  Does stress manifest itself within my being in a form of BLINDNESS!  I am in love with this tiny place, AND IT IS TINY….and I will make it work.  Of this I am determined.  I will purchase the coolest patio furniture ever and pretend that I have an extra room with an endless ceiling!  No one below, above, or on either side!  I can paint, nap, write and entertain at my will!   Who needs five rooms and no garden?   Well, I might, but I will try something different for a year or two.  Perhaps a mansion is down the road.  This is the time to prepare for it!

The loom is a device used to weave.  Weaving is done by intersecting the longitudinal threads, the warp, i.e. "that which is thrown across", with the transverse threads, the weft, i.e. "that which is woven".

It makes me think how much life resembles a tapestry. The back appears to be nothing more than a mishmash of thread. But things are not always what they seem. It’s only when you turn a tapestry over that you see its true beauty: the rich colours, the rich texture, and the simplicity or intricacy of its design.  I plan to weave myself a perfect teeny tiny existence with enormous and vast potency! 

Some choice quotes on the threads of life.   http://thinkexist.com/search/searchquotation.asp?search=threads+of+life

My fave: 

“The spider's touch, how exquisitely fine! Feels at each thread, and lives along the line”

Alexander Pope