Door

Day Eleven - I've always loved exploring. I remember as a kid taking my mom and dad's binoculars, my bird book, a notebook and pencil and going on adventures in the woods. I could spend hours by myself just walking, looking at things, drawing little pictures and identifying new birds. As I got older, I loved exploring old houses. Where I grew up there are tonnes of old homesteads that have long been abandoned. Walking through those old houses I would always imagine what they were like when they had been full of life. Real live people had lived there and for whatever reason moved on leaving behind a lonely house that eventually decays and fills with critters.

When we moved to Dapp I was somewhat disappointed that there weren't very many old houses to explore. This is one of the only ones that I have seen around. It's less than a mile from our place. My kids and I go there often for picnics under the huge pine tree that is right close to the house. There are remnants of the past scattered throughout the house; an old couch that was left to fade in the elements, a rusty old cook stove, a skeleton of an old mattress, and this beautiful chippy old door. The windows are long gone but this door that once greeted friends and family, that looked out on the lilac tree and the pines, that was slammed in anger, and that was shut to keep out the icy drafts of the frigid winter winds still remains.

 Doors are symbols of beginnings and ends. We open doors in our lives to new opportunities and chances for change. We open doors to experiences and sometimes challenges. We open doors to relationship. We open doors to let things in. We close doors on the past. We close doors to guard against the storms that rage around us. We close doors to keep out intruders. We close doors to when we leave something or someone behind.

I find it interesting that this door is propped open a bit. It's as if it still wants to let things in. It is still inviting. It's story is still not finished. There is more to tell. There are stories that still need to be heard about the people that used to live there so long ago. This door lets light into a forgotten house. This door reminds me that the past is important and that everyone has a story to tell...even a door.