#30: Adorn a Door
Open the next chapter with some decor.
Instructions
Notice the doors you encounter daily — internal and external.
Decide on a decoration that would be nice to see daily.
Make it and put it up — interior or exterior.
It’s Decorative (Gourd) Season
Autumn has arrived, and with it the mixture of relief that the hottest/grossiest weather is behind us here in New York, as well as the bracing for the cold and low light that is the Winter. But that’s not happening yet—right now is the moment to embrace the light sweater, leaf-changing, roasted vegetable goodness. Especially with the weird time dilation of the past couple of years, it’s important to mark the opening and closing of the seasons of the year—it seems the pagans had a few things right.
I don’t agree with the 4 season demarcation—and apparently neither do Hindus—nor many people.
In my opinion, the Northeast is more like:
January–February: Total BS
March–April: Half-Spring
May–June: Summer/Long June
July–August: The Grossening
September–October: The Sweatering
November–December: Ugh
It’s worthwhile to decorate as we’re heading to spend more time indoors. Many people pull out the Halloween nonsense, then the Thanksgiving hand turkeys, and finally the holiday lights. This is a reminder that you don’t need to buy something to change your space, and that decoration can be just for you.
So find a space to adorn, even if it’s a small corner of your door that you see, and add something to keep your spirits up as we move into this next season. It can be small and personal, or you can go big like an elementary school teacher. Just remember: there’s no test and no grading for this assignment.
Image: Teachers, making the rest of us look bad, as always (via Plymouth Rock Teachers)
Sidenote/Music: The Doors
As a native Angelino, part of the culture is music, such as the hippie rock of the 60s and 70s, the hair metal of the 80s, and the west coast rap of the 90s. One of those iconic L.A. bands is The Doors, a musical act whose magic is appropriate for the brains of young people whose frontal lobes have not completed growth. I was one of those young people.
One of the strangest doors/seasons that we all walk through (and thankfully out of) is adolescence. Maybe it’s just Western culture, but it’s that period of thinking that, as Will Smith wrote, your parents just don’t understand. So you can imagine my confusion when one time in my teenage years my Dad suggested we go to Griffith Park to see the laser light show at the Observatory known as the Laserium (RIP) https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6480607, which was focused that night on the music of The Doors. My Dad, who was decidedly Not Cool, pulled an old jean jacket with now problematic Native American-themed stitching out of his closet that I hadn’t seen before—and which probably had not been out of there since 1979.
Image: marvel at the terrible graphics of a Florida version of the Laserium
In the middle of the “L.A. Woman” Morrison yells (repeatedly) “Mr. Mojo Rising” and the lasers spelled it out on the roof. My Dad leaned over at said “that’s an anagram of Jim Morrison” and sure, enough, the letters rearranged. Mind blown. My dorky Dad actually knew something cool.
Here’s an instrumental version of L.A. Woman, which is much better than having to listen to a drunk Jim Morrison yell at you. (If you want to hear three comedians make fun of it for an hour, here’s that link.)
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