Oh My Deer

When I like something, it stays, no matter how out of date it is. My fireplace in the great room is an example. Before we moved in, several who are in the know, advised me to paint the brown brick. But I like brown and to me it lent to the feel of the room. I know it is 'in' to paint them. I appreciate the look. But I am not a slave to home deco fashion. I'm sure many would think my scheme is dated. I like it.

My mother in law constantly decorated, built on, changed, changed, changed. Every time I entered her house, which is now our house, the furniture had been moved. It didn't matter that the pictures on the wall didn't line up, or if the traffic pattern was awkward. She just needed the new look, the change. I like to find the best arrangement and pretty much leave it that way. Everything has to look balanced to me.

So this is going on out in the yard as well. Before we moved in, my hubby decided (on his own) to have 14 trees cut from the landscape. They brought in some heavy equipment to do the job. My mother-in-law's deer had to be moved out of the way. With that machinery, the men were able to move them across the yard to a spot behind a flower bed which we see from our 'picture' window. They told us at the time that the deer weighed 600 pounds a piece. I haven't had them on any special diet, so I suppose they are still that heavy. To put is simply, it would not be easy to move them again. It is a good thing I like them...no matter how many comments I get. Yes, I know they are weathered and and I know they are passe'. Those deer aren't going anywhere. I hope (and have been hoping for 5 years) to paint them so that they look like real deer and maybe people will like them. Who knows. It could happen that they will become the thing in yard deco fashion again some day. Then they will be de rigueur. Until then, I'll still be happy.

Many of us wanted change for the sake of change in '08. Many voted for the candidate who promised 'change'. It is sad that we've had to learn from experience that change is not always for the better. Now, over 1/2 of us want to change back. Things were so much better before. We didn't (at least most of us didn't) have any idea what the 'change' was going to be. Now we are willing to give back the change, which turned out to be the little bit of money left in our pockets.