Chipped paint, warts, and all:

Christmas w/ chipped paint:

Economy not merry;

but what a roller-coaster run

we've had

between the Great Depression of the 30's

and the depression of now;

Today, as we continue to decorate the house

for the imminent descension of our two college youths

- who still have this address as

their official one

and who will take respite from their own travails

for a few days -

old ornaments and affects

are drawn from cardboard boxes,

dusted off and re-hung

for our re-immersion.

A finial that enjoys permanent display through the entire year

- thru thick and thin -

came from an old house stair banister,

and on its many facets contains symbolism

of various kinds:

at the top is a pink crystal, painted on

one of six triangular facets

"The All-Seeing Eye;"

below, a black and blue checkerboard on one of the

four vertical surfaces; a plain and unpainted

original face on one side;

another eye (repetition);

and a snapshot of our late father

Leslie V. Dix I, once of the 90th Infantry Div.

- in WW II -

doing yoga years later in a motel room

with me in Wheeling West Virginia.

His upreached arms in the 'asana'

give a PRAISE ALLAH suggestion

that suits the motif of the finial overall.

Silver glitter is attached to the ball

for a suggestion of a mirrored skating rink

turning orb.

In a time of depreciation

and devaluation

and shrinkage

it is even more impossible to place true value

on such an object.

Objects there are many.

Love is at the top.
......

As to Wheeling, our unseen friend who works there for the symphony orchestra sends this cat greeting to the Sewer Raccoon News.

We pass it along with our wishes for "wellness."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sw-apc3XKvI&eurl=http://www.cutewithchris.com/