Vicissitude

Love lives inside.  

Early Saturday morning my heart skipped a beat when a dreamy house set back from the street on a snow-covered lawn captivated me with his quiet charm.  He’s a compact Cape Cod, gentle and warm, with a majestic brick chimney adorning the north side of the west facing facade, covered in intricate vines which I imagine bloom gloriously during the spring.  This picture doesn’t quite do him justice, as my camera caught the overcast sky muting his brightly painted front door and shutters which twinkled fetchingly to my naked eye; their true blue color like jewels more closely resembling Pantone 15-5519. Exactly where I’ve always thought I would find a home suited just for me, on the road less traveled. It was love at first sight.

Pantone 15-5519

I never bother to look too closely at the houses on the main thoroughfares because those spaces are too busy to call home. It isn’t often I find myself in this particular neighborhood, but the search for six miles of smooth, dry pavement for a morning run took my companion and I off the beaten path.  Our usual weekend trails rendered treacherous when footprints cast in last week’s soft snow froze impenetrable, we forged a new route rewarding me with a glimpse at my idea of an ethereal haven.

This has me thinking about how we all wear traffic patterns into the road of life, and wondering what other glorious suitors would enrapture me if I cajoled myself into braving new territory.

It’s not an easy thing to do.  We’re busy.  We know exactly how long it takes to get from point A to B, and that’s how much time we allot for it.  We fill up at the same gas station, buy coffee at the same corner shop, and purchase lunch at the same sandwich counter in the cafeteria.  We’re even at these places at the same time every day of the week. No wonder it can sometimes feel like we’re stuck in a rut, that there is nothing or no one new in our lives.

The truth is changing up things enriches us; makes us more interesting.  Our new experiences bring us new dimension, adding yet another quality, skill or perspective we have to offer to those around us.  They also bring us happiness.  It’s not necessary to move mountains to affect change.  Drastic measures are not required.  You don’t need to wait for a new job, a new relationship or an exotic vacation to shake things up. You can start small, like a run in an unexplored neighborhood. Who knows, you just might happen upon an attractive Cape Cod who puts his heart out there for you, right on the front door.  

Nobody has ever measured, not even poets, how much the human heart can hold. -- Zelda Fitzgerald, novelist (1900-1948)