My Front Porch: A Photo Study

If a house was a body, the front porch would be the mouth. There are many things on my front porch. In the Spring, I string my hammock up out there. This Summer I fell asleep in that hammock to the sound of chirping birds. It a was a private paradise. This photograph, though, is of a wreath on my porch. I made it from green wisteria vines (which are ubiquitous down here). When these vines dry out, they're hard as nails, almost. Back before nails were invented, people used to build houses that way, too - with wet, "green" wood that dried rock solid. Of course, when they dried, the boards twisted and gnarled into weird shapes, causing the houses to look like Tim Burton creations. But it didn't matter. They were built to last. That was the old way.

This is a mask I bought at a place called Reed's Odds n' Ends. I don't know where the mask came from or who it's supposed to represent. I think it's just a cheap souvenir from somewhere. It has a glass marble for a left eyeball. It's missing a right eye, though, so I call it Cyclops. In Greek mythology the Cyclops were hardcore. They were grumpy hellions who manufactured weapons of mass destruction. My Cyclops reminds me of Joseph Campbell when he talks about "The Hero With A Thousand Faces" and the collective unconscious and how God can be a parking meter. Last weekend I put this mask on and danced for Eleanor, who found the whole affair only mildly interesting...which was funny.

Yesterday, while hiking with Eleanor & Stella (who officially does not have cancer, by the way), I came upon this deer skull & rack in the woods. It was in the middle of a path I walk every day. Since it was small (probably a yearling), I think our local bobcat killed it. I like to see signs that our local bobcat is making her living okay. Here it is legal to hunt bobcats, which is stupid since they're an endangered species. But I take it personal, since my daughter's birth was precipitated by visits and sightings of the bobcat, which is by nature a very furtive animal. A week after Eleanor's birth, the bobcat again appeared in our front yard.

I still see Lady Bobcat from time to time... Quite rarely, actually. More often, I see signs that she's making her way in the world. Good for her. Because the bobcat is essentially Ella's totem animal, I took the sighting of this deer skull as an auspicious sign. It's now on our front porch, too...staring out at the world.

p.s. Blossom Dearie is the female Chet Baker. Except she's not a horse addict. This video is about birds, though. Not horses: