Recent Musings. . .

We all know what it’s like to feel that something in the room is staring at you. Usually when it’s night and you’re trying to sleep. I was one of those kids with all kinds of irrational fears and this was a biggie for me. My grandmother had a hideous carved chair in a bloody-colored wood with two huge swan heads at the end of the arms. I begged her to let me sleep in another room but she said that’s the one she felt we would like the best (this went on for many years and she never got the point.) I made my sister cover this chair in a blanket, but I could still see the shape of the beaks and I knew they were whispering about me. And at home, my dad had bought 3 “valuable” sculptural African statues and these terrified me no end. The one that was just a head was the worst – it chased me around the house, sat on the edge of my bed laughing at me, and peered at me in the shower. No manner of shrieking would make him throw them away, or, preferably, burn them. Then miraculously on one of our moves, the buggers got lost or stolen. Such relief, such quiet nights! And yet, I know it will find me some day and that horrible grin will greet me when I wake up. Or it will knock on my door and when I look down it will be holding a scrap of my baby blanket.